expiationlogs | june catchall (open!)

Entry tags:

june catchall (open!)

Who: Shinji! and! you!
Where: various
What: ya boy shinjiro, man about town (feat. brunch, Axe Swinging, and misc tdm-inspired loitering)
Warnings: nothing yet

cooking mama sequel

[While he doesn't actually live in the inn anymore, Shinji is here at the inn today, helping himself to the kitchen as the locals so generously allow him to. Things have been weird? He remembers passing out and waking up somewhere else entirely (or: he was kidnapped to the grove, and unconscious throughout), and while he was out, it seems like a bunch of people had a strange and uncomfortable time.

So!

Well. All Shinji knows to show empathy is making food and punching, and one of those isn't really viable, and the other one he's only doing so that he doesn't have to think about the implications of being mysteriously kidnapped. All this to say he is at the inn, in the kitchen, making Food. He's both very skilled and weirdly fast at food preparation, so there is a lot, and since he lives on a farm with a bunch of egg-laying chickens, primarily it's Brunch.

If you come in looking for a nibble, he immediately snaps:]

Don't touch that. [And then just as immediately, prepares a delightful brunch plate and slides it over a countertop.] Eat this. And don't complain about it, okay?

[Complain... about free brunch... He can't just give out food normally or someone might notice he has Human Empathy.]

axe you a question

[Or: The training arc prompt, because if sleeping with a big axe next to his bed doesn't deter magical shadow kidnappers, he'll just have to... stop sleeping and swing it around all the time?

Whatever. He's workshopping it. He's never really, um, trained before, is the thing— not formally? Not really? His bestie is the training-addicted jock, Shinji is merely a tank with a big axe. So while he is here, at the random spot he's chosen to train in (somewhere with less foot traffic, see, is the sole requirement), he has no planned routine.

Or even, like. Stretches? Do people stretch? Goddamn. It's warm out but he's dressed like it's winter and he's carrying a big axe, which might not be the most comforting of figures to be addressed by, suddenly:]

Hey. You. ....Do you know how to fight? [hm, well, no, and he frowns because now it's embarrassing-] Do you know how to train.

misc around town mini prompts

[You may run into Shinji:

A. Loitering in the statue garden, where he will be staring at his own statue with an air of obvious and grim Sulking, suspiciously fist-sized rock in hand at his side... ah jeez...!!

B. Not-quite-celebrating at ....the post-event celebration, that is to say, lurking to pick up some food and then disappearing again. He gruffly brushes off any local trying to rope him back in, using the logic that he definitely just slept through the whole thing so please leave him the hell alone this time, but as it starts to get darker he's definitely hanging around as a self-appointed Party Bouncer in case anything out there gets any ideas. Or in case someone in the party starts some shit.

C. Out in the woodsy areas that need replanting, crouched down next to a hole in the ground with a seed in hand. A magic seed. He's literally seen a fairy but he still feels the need to ask,] ....This isn't for real, right?

wildcard/etc

[wriggles back in from my hiatus, hello.... hmu via pm or at jojoveller if you would like a custom starter, we can hash something out!! or: do whatever, surprise me.]

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[ The inn's great, man. Not to live in with all the people coming and going all the time, but the free drinks and free access to the kitchen alone would be enough to reel Blackbeard in, even if he didn't have other reasons for a visit.

Entirely clad in black, mostly leather like some kind of biker gang reject, Blackbeard's lured into the kitchen by pungent, mouth-watering smell of bacon. The chef is still in the process of cooking, but Blackbeard reaches for a strip of the cooling bacon— only to be snapped at. His eyebrows reach almost to his hairline, as if no one's ever told him "no" before. He watches Shinji's profile then with a more predatory glint, until he's slid a plate and the food takes over Blackbeard's full attention again.

Apology accepted. He leans against the counter, just barely out of the way, and begins eating from his plate with his fingers like he's never met a fork in his life, either. ]

I'll complain if I feel like it. Especially if I get the shits. Or magic glowy tentacles start crawling out of my throat.

[ Someone's been recently traumatized a bit, maybe. But who hasn't, right? It's been a wild fucking ride these last few weeks. Also, don't try to take the plate back or Blackbeard will 100% try to stab you, Shinji. Holding his plate close to his chest like a racoon might, he asks warily between bites. ]

Seen you around here a lot. You work here? Don't look much like the locals of this place.

[A normal, reasonable person might have the sense to find this guy's whole... everything kind of intimidating, but Shinji has a hard head and low sense of self-preservation, so instead of easing up on his Attitude he simply gives the new face a Look when he gets all up in his zone. Hello? He's cooking here? Come on.

That said,] It's breakfast, it's not going to do... that.

[He didn't think that needed to be said, but okay! His breakfast isn't tentacle poison, holy shit. He's still giving a Look, but at least he's not commenting on the paranoid raccoon behavior - like, the food's being eaten? That's all he asks, most of the time.

So he looks back at his stove with a short shrug, which for a longish beat is his whole answer. Give him a moment to steel himself for conversing with other people, ack...]

I don't work here. The kitchen's bigger here than... [hm, Astralin's house is Astralin's house, he can't call it "my place," how awkward,] where I'm staying.

[Another pause, while the next batch of delicious bacon pieces sizzle pleasantly. He gives Blackbeard another glance.]

And most of you don't know how to cook a damn thing, so....

[ Given Blackbeard's lack of a reputation in this land, he can't blame anyone for underestimating him. In a way, he enjoys it. It's refreshing. And being challenged back by someone cooking free food, of all people? That's fucking fascinating.

Blackbeard raccoon-focuses on his food, quietly analyzing everything the chef is saying, trying to get a read off of him. He seems honest, straight forward. Especially that last bit. ]

You enjoy it, that's it? Not the same cooking for yourself, no matter how capable you are.

[ #relatable. He concludes, finally slowing his eating enough to, you know, taste the food. ]

Thanks, mate. This is pretty fucking good. Got all the fat melted off and the crispy bits left in there.

[ Ed wipes a greasy, fingerless-gloved hand on the more linen-like belly of his shirt, then offers his hand in Shinji's direction, holding the plate low on his lap, less defensively. ]

Name's Blackbeard.

[Uh. Shinji looks at his hand, which while certainly less greasy than a second ago, is still...]

....I'm not shaking your hand while I'm cooking. Later.

[Put a pin in that shake, thanks? He's in the zone and he doesn't want to have to stop and go re-wash his hands to keep making these delicious, delicious breakfast goods. He's as dedicated to proper kitchen health as he is to good food, see.]

Thanks, though. ....You can have more, if you want.

[There's definitely enough, and he appreciates a compliment even if he won't shake hands. It's more than clear that, yeah, he enjoys making food for the other Chosen, much as he is actively not acknowledging being read like that right this second lest he be mortified.]

[ You know that look from before, like Blackbeard's never heard the word "no" before, kind of wants to shoot someone in the face about it? Yeah, it's that look again now as he's left hanging on a handshake. The fucking balls on this kid.

He huffs, incredulous, and uses that outstretched hand to, yep, help himself to more of that fresh bacon. ]

Don't get out of the kitchen much, do you, boy?

[Shinji pauses to give him a look, mildly incredulous, as if he cannot believe the egos on everyone in this town. They are all allegedly basic-ass criminals here in cottagecore farmville, and he doesn't have the energy to play Who's the Toughest Guy Around? here.

Then he frowns; god, use a fork!! They're right there!!!]

Let me guess, food poisoning builds character? I've been sick in enough backstreet gutters to have higher standards these days. If you want a handshake that bad, ask me again in twenty minutes.

[ Hang on, this is Shinji not playing Toughest Guy Around? Could've fooled Blackbeard. Also don't lecture him on silverware okay THIS ISN'T FINE DINING and also who the fuck eats bacon with a fork??? ]

Hm.

[ Blackbeard hums, thoughtful, around his perfectly crispy bacon. ]

Think maybe there's a correlation there? Between the attitude and puking your guts out in alleyways all the time? You've got a talent, mate, but your people skills are shit.

Don't need people skills.

[He shrugs. He does not complain about the lack of silverware, although he wants to. It could be fine dining if everyone used a fork!! Whatever!!!

Anyway, he's not... trying to be Incredibly Edgy with his attitude, this is just what he's like. It's a problem he continues to ignore for reasons he refuses to acknowledge, which is to say: it really could be worse.]

And there's no correlation, besides how nobody likes a sick kid.

[ Don't need people skills, like he isn't a people talking to a people right now. Blackbeard just shoots him a long "are you for real" kind of raised eyebrow look at that, whether Shinji notices or is too busy cooking to be silently judged properly. ]

Sick kid?

[ Okay, Blackbeard's expression drops at that to something more startled. He looks at the half-eaten bacon in his hand, then to Shinji and leans way back away from him. ]

Fuck off, you don't have those freaky germ bugs all over you, do you? The fuck are you doing cooking for people, then?! Knew I'd get the shits from this.

What? If you get the shits, it's because you wipe your hands on your fucking shirt. I said kid.

[Does he look like a child!! He is a grown-ass almost-19-year-old, which is... SO adult... Whatever. He really doesn't feel like explaining his life story, but the slanderous talk of germ bugs in his cooking is enough to get him to at least give up:]

Wasn't that kind of sick, besides. "Germ bugs," tch... Do you know what contagious means? It wasn't like that.

[ Yes, actually, Shinji looks to Blackbeard like a very small child. A kid, in fact. Blackbeard hasn't been calling him "boy" this whole time because Shinji looks like a grown-ass adult, you know. YoU'Re jUSt a BAbY!!!

A sick baby, in fact, and Blackbeard is still leaning away like Shinji might have the plague (he might, who knows what those invisible bugs actually are. probably do cause the plague), even though he seems to be implying that he got over whatever sickness it was. ]

Contagious... What's that mean?

[ He's a PIRATE not a SCIENTIST okay. Who knows how the human body works??? Not this guy. ]

[god help shinji]

....It means you can get the shits from somebody else having the shits.

[This is the level he feels this guy will understand, truly no offense, just-- that's what he's got. He's the smartest baby in this room.]

What happened to me isn't the same. It's not catching.

Okay...

[ So "contagious" is just a fancy word for a sickness spreading, and that's not what Shinji's got (or had). That's a relief. Blackbeard's shoulders relax and he takes an albeit less enthusiastic bite out of his bacon again. ] ]

So what kind of sickness was it?

Not really any of your business.

[Hmph, hmph, just eat that bacon and shush. Shinji continues to frown at the stove, thinking about it - well, maybe if only so that he's not accused of giving people the shits again later. After another beat, he comes up with:]

Hurt myself in a way I shouldn't've, and I got sick. It was stupid. Get it? So it's not the kind you can catch.

[ That's fair and true, not Blackbeard's business, and he doesn't seem offended by that retort. He does, in fact, shrug, eat his bacon and shut up.

At least until Shinji's volunteering his business anyway, the big softy. Blackbeard crosses his arms, leans back against the counter he's stood up against, and hums like he's piecing together a puzzle. ]

Hm... So, if I've got it right, you're not doing whatever it was that made you sick anymore. Clawed your way out of the gutters. Don't take anyone's shit. And cook a damn good breakfast. Seems to me you've doing well for yourself, whatever stupid mistakes you made as a kid.

[Wow, this is why he doesn't talk to anyone about this stuff, he always gets opinions—ah, but this isn't either of the two extremes he expects (those of course being "stop sulking and move on" and "your friends are here for you!!" which are both, hm, unhelpful in their own way). While he might not wholly agree that he's doing well for himself, the frankness of it sinks in, at least.

Hmm. Alright.]

If you say so. [But he's not grumbling about it, so please accept this as thanks, some...how. Ahem.] So you're not going to say my food is going to give you the shits anymore, huh?

[It's ~damn good~ now, please rescind prior complaint.]

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june catchall (open!)

cooking, also i'm sorry about him

don't be, this is spectacular

well in that case

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