Catch-all for October | Open

[slightlytaller]

Who: Waver Velvet + YOU
What: Waver turns 31 and gets broody, chases down a probable extinct plant, and finds something else. Also catch-all for October
When: Throughout October 
Where: Throughout Trench
Content Warnings: idk general warnings for Fate/verse Mage Culture Being The Worst

[It didn't take him long to understand what he was holding. Waver Velvet awoke that morning with the warmth of his king still lingering between the sheets and a gleaming, delicate crystal on a chain pressed into his palm. He had done his research, listened to the stories, and paid attention to the parallels. He was already a Libra. It only figured that his Blessed Day would coincide with his birthday, even if it felt like it had come a handful of months early to his perspective.

Without a classroom to tether him, it was hard to stay focused on the mundane passage of time. Days blended into weeks until they were hardly discernible, and Waver was only able to tell which affairs had happened by the month due to the rotating trials and crises that changed with every moon cycle.

--At least for the moment he had something concrete, and he knew what he needed to do.

Besides his own meager plans, he intended to visit the beaches to look for Cloverfield and offer his thanks. A memory crystal was an unexpected boon-- and he knew exactly what it was that he could never allow himself to forget. Frigid though the beaches were with the changing seasons, it was at least tolerable and familiar for the moment. The weather was brisk in his own hometown; visits to chilly beaches were not unheard of.

The rest of his day, however, found him dipping into the apothecaries and grocers and other shops that dealt in plants and herbs. A rumor had reached his ears recently-- one about an ancient plant with a heart-shaped seed that had disappeared from his own Earth during it's antiquity. In each of the shops he would ask the storekeeper after the plant with a rough botanical drawing or even flashing the etchings of a drachma for clarity.

It was Silphium, and as an academic the mere possibility of it's existence in this strange land was a wonder. He wanted to see what he could find. Eventually, the search would take him to Gaze and it's various bookstores. While a translated copy of De Re Coquinaria was not exactly what he was looking for, and was met with a serious of ponderous frowns and staring tiredly out of the nearest window.... it was fine.

At least maybe he and Iskandar could try to make the dolmades.]

Comments

beach visit!

[tealeafs]

[ Chizuru can't help but head out to the beach sometimes. Sometimes early in the month, but sometimes even later - like she's waiting for someone to show up, even if they're not with the main group of people that tend to arrive earlier in the month. Like she's worried about someone arriving and being left to their own devices.

Except it's not a squid she finds on the beach this time around. It's definitely a person, and a familiar one at that. She can see Waver already standing out there on the sand, and when Chizuru sees him standing there by himself, her pace quickens a little so she can call out to him without being too far away to be heard. ]

Ah, hello..!

[ She's not even sure if he'd remember her from their talks before.

But she sure seems to remember him. ]

What are you doing out here by yourself..? Aren't you too cold?

[ Look at her. A girl fussing over someone who is ten years older than her, and way taller as well.. And yet the concern in the girl's eyes seems so genuine all the same, like she truly is worried about him freezing out here.

Even if this place may not be that cold yet. ]

[slightlytaller]

Oh. Chizuru, right?

[They had only spoken a handful of times, but he remembered her. She was that earnest Paleblood with a big heart that needed to work on her confidence, like so many others in town. He cast her a smile. ]

I'm fine. Just looking for some friend-- old and possibly new.

[His students and trusted peers for one... But also to Cloverfield. It was also just nice to watch the sea and dream of Okeanos while the brisk, salty wind snatched at his loose hair and the folds of his long coat and scarf.

Having a plain sense of work fashion meant that it was easy to find parallel garments that worked with his own styling in Trench. ]

I'm fine. I do cold better than I do heat. How about you, though? Are you alone in the cold?

[tealeafs]

[ She quickly shakes her head. ]

I'm okay..! [ Granted, that answer may come a little too quickly, like Chizuru didn't even have to think about it.

.. because she didn't. This girl always says she's okay, because saying anything else feels too much like being a burden. But at least she doesn't look like she's particularly cold, wearing her light blue haori over her usual clothes to keep herself warm even now the weather is definitely starting to change. ]

I guess I'm out here alone though, that part is true.. But not anymore now I've found you here too! [ She smiles, glad to be able to add a positive note onto it like that. ] I also wanted to take a look here. Um, you know.. Just to see if new people are showing up.

[slightlytaller]

Then I guess we're here for the same reason.

[He offered her a reassuring little smile. It was indeed just nice to watch the sea... but the possibility of someone familiar rising up from the waves was what brought Waver to the shores every month.]

There's people I'm hoping to find. But... the sea is nice to visit, too.

[tealeafs]

[ The sea is nice to visit. Chizuru won't disagree with that. She doesn't even mind the bustle of the town, nor the energy of her roommate, but sometimes it's nice to come out here where it tends to be a little more quiet when not many new people have started to show up yet.

.. her mind lingers on the other part of what he's saying here though, drawing her clothes a little bit tighter around her because of the colder breeze. ]

Who do you want to find..?

[ There's a pause as Chizuru realises the answer may be hard for her to parse, since she doesn't know the same people as he does - so she rewords it a little. ]

Um, I mean.. You could tell me about some of those people, if you want. Or even just one of them.

[ Sometimes the burden of missing someone feels a little bit lighter to carry when you at least get to talk about them and reminisce about them, Chizuru has found.

She isn't sure if the same goes for him, but maybe talking about it a bit might make him feel lighter all the same. She sure hopes so, anyway - it's why she's asking about this in the first place. ]

beaches

[hauntedsavior]

[so. anna didn't really know what cloverfield had in store for her this time, but she knew a couple things. one, this was his month; two, she'd fallen off visiting him recently; three, she missed him. so despite all the misery that going to the beach calls to attention in her head, all the complicated conversations and battlegrounds she's made there in the past year, she's here, too, trying to track down the pthumerian that she can reliably call a friend.]

[imagine her surprise when she comes across another actual flesh-and-blood friend instead.]

Oh, yo! What's up, dude? [she's got a varsity jacket with "Recollé University" on the back of it, and it's lighter than her normal coat but still keeping her warm. maybe one day she'll stop artfully ripping her jeans, too, so she doesn't have to worry about getting sand in her joints.] You heading down here to check on my buddy CF?

[slightlytaller]

[Anna was dressed in the athleisure of a comfortable varsity jacket from her college days; Waver was dressed in a stoic trench with a red scarf cast over his shoulders. It might look polished and pristine, but it was comfortable and familiar for him. Spotting Anna, he tipped his head and dug out a bottle of liquor from his pocket. ]

After a fashion. I need to thank him, and hard drinks are traditional when you're dealing with Gods.

[He tossed it at Anna, trusting that she would catch it. Should she investigate, she would find the it was an aged bottle of dark spirits with salt crystals still clinging to the crevices in it's detailing. Clearly, it was a bottle that had been brought in from the Sea-- and likely was a hefty barter to acquire.

Waver cast her a wry little smile and dug a small crystal on a chain that he was already wearing next to his heart. ]

Turns out he's my Patron. I figured as much, but it's never smart to just assume.

Do you know how to approach him?

[hauntedsavior]

[anna caught it pretty effortlessly and checked the bottle, then tilted her head in consideration.]

Not sure if it's something that he'll party with, honestly. [she was taking a guess, and it had been a while, so maybe cloverfield had changed.] He never struck me as a booze guy. More the kind of guy that you can just sit around and talk about stuff with. Like, when we talked last year, we just sat and he listened to me talk about the people I missed from home.

Real easy to do that with, honestly. He just feels... lost, sometimes. Like he's alone and doesn't know why, because I think he half-remembers people who used to be there for him. [she'd been closing the distance the whole time, and finally handed back the alcohol once it was safe to do it without throwing it again.] Just don't be afraid of him, you know? He's a sweetheart. Really.

[slightlytaller]

The idea isn't necessarily to party,

[He commented, accepting the ocean worn bottle and tucking it back into his coat.]

I try not to overwhelm people with ancient greek vocab, but it's xenia. The sacred bonds of host-guest friendship and hospitality. The rules we know from our Earths aren't necessarily in play, so we shouldn't make assumptions. The Pthumerians welcomed us into their domain, and now I have been granted a gift.

It's only right to offer thanks. Traditionally, with gods or fairies alike, it can be in the form of leaving honey or hard drinks. Were this an underworld entity situation, like Hekate in her Cthonic aspects, we're talking libations. In the case of Zeus Xenios, incense or burning sweet herbs would be accepted.

[Waver took a break and cast Anna a soft, sheepish look. He knew he was being nerdy on main and dropping academic gems before someone that probably didn't entirely want to know, but he couldn't help it.

There was a reason he had said he would accept food or discource on favorite subjects if anyone wanted to pay him for teaching. Info dumps were glorious to behold in the correct settings.]

The Nordic gods also enjoyed hard beverages, and many of them appreciated dedications in battle. We're talking Blood for the Blood God kinda stuff. The Patrons, however?

[He looked down the shoreline, at the gentle lap of the incoming tide against the sand with an expression that almost seemed nostalgic.]

We don't have hard set rules. I was playing it safe-- but, since you're friends?

Perhaps we can open this bottle and share it while we spend time with him.

[hauntedsavior]

Perhaps so.

[it's all she said, other than the typical polite nods and smiles as she allowed him to nerd out. she'd heard of the concept before, but hadn't realized it until a few sentences in, and in that context it definitely made sense. she ended up smiling pretty wide by the end of it, though.]

Sounds like a plan to me. He really does like having other people around, and if he's feeling charitable like last year, maybe we'll get some keepsakes from home, you know? [she thinks of a picture of rose geteilt, smiling in a way she'd never had the chance to, that she still has pinned to a corkboard in her bedroom.] He dropped an impossible picture on me, actually. I think that's what he can do as a god.

And all we have to do for our own kind of offering is just... be around him, let him know he exists. Make him feel welcome, but not in the same way that you just said. It's not really hospitality, I don't think. It's... [she's at a loss for the word, when usually it comes so easily. her free hand curls against her chest, and A2 sings back, and she looks back up at waver and casually slings an arm up and around his shoulder.]

Friendship.

bookstores

[disbanding]

[There's only so long Hector can wait for someone to move away from the shelf he wants to look at. Bookstores, broadly, are still very new and exciting, even the more tucked-away and cluttered ones like this one; he's used to expansive libraries or nothing at all. Naturally, he's spent most of his time here slinking back and forth between a place with books (tm) and the hole in the wall he's chosen to call home, for now.

And today, this guy is just standing there, making faces at cookbooks and then out the windows, and Hector wants at this shelf! So he sighs lightly and simply stalks over, to reach for the shelf and put his hand on a book spine at random, to announce his Presence. Hi, this is a public space. He is missing his ring finger, don't perceive that, despite how eye-level and close it may be.]

It's been five minutes, if you don't mind. I heard they let you take the books home.

[slightlytaller]

-- I beg pardon.

[Waver stepped to the side, allowing space for the other man to access the books that he was inadvertently blocking, but still stood in the aisle flipping though the pages in what seemed to be dismay. He was no chef, but he was struck by the particular constants of honey, peppercorns, silphium, lovage, garum, and wine.

How was he to acquire these ingredients...? ]

[disbanding]

[Oh, so he's not taking the book home, is he. Alright. Hector gives him a sidelong look just briefly, pulling the book he's touched at random off the shelf to flip through it cursorily and then tuck it under his arm. The dismayed cookbook browsing is distracting, however, so-]

You'll need a miracle to make some of those antiques.

[Hector is from Rhodes; while it's, hm, vaguely surprising to see such a text just sitting around in a store in this place, he can still recognize it for what it is.]

Or just pick another plant.

[slightlytaller]

I can't do that,

[He commented, finally looking at the man. Snapping the book shut, he maintained his hold on it-- he had not yet quite decided what to do.]

My roommate is a war general from Macedon. I thought he might appreciate something familiar.

[disbanding]

Most people appreciate the gesture. So I've heard.

[Personally, every time he attempts a gesture, it goes sideways. But rumor has it some people like that kind of thing. He looks at the shelf again, tapping fingers along the row of spines until he picks another book.]

A substitute is better than nothing at all.

apothecaries and such

[bleedformeplz]

[Ever since this month began, Himiko felt herself restless to the point she couldn't bring herself to sleep. It wasn't out of hand, yet, but that didn't mean she enjoyed every moment of it. So, it was time to fix this problem. She can't sleep over every single night with someone. Dabi and her friends probably don't want to answer her text messages late at night.

When word was around how certain plants could be remedies for sleep and anxiety, that was her calling. She sprung herself where she was suggested to go and scope from there. Now the hard part, what plant or remedy to choose, and how it was supposed to work. Himiko would barely take any medication if she was sick, and right now, she looked a little embarrassed because all she could do was browse around and read the labels. In one shop that's exactly what she did. There were dried herbs and bottled tonics, all very alien to her, so she wasn't sure where to go or how to choose the right tonic.

There is low and dragging hum rumbling from her throat, squinting her eyes as she glimpsed at one bottle close to her nose. Then again when she stared hard at the other occupied in her other hand.]

Choo. [Great, this was frustrating.] How the hell am I supposed to pick?

[Should she pick all of them? At this point, she's been in this shop for quite some time and the owner wasn't helping. A little help here Waver?]

[slightlytaller]

[It had been a while since Waver had seen Himiko-- and, distracted as he was, he didn't think about the dual facts of 1) the Himiko that he knew had complained to him once that another version, one which had made the dark choices she hadn't, was in Trench, and 2) that the recent absence of both the Himiko he knew and Sayo likely meant that they had returned to the sea. Although his acquaintance with the both of them had been short, he had rather enjoyed a few moments of being the Older Gay guiding the Younger Lesbians through their romantic foibles by patiently answering rather... Bizarre questions.

He still pondered the logistics of how people of other blood types could drink Vileblood from time to time. It was an idle thought experiment, really.

Upon hearing that familiar voice and catching a glimpse of the blonde twin buns, he reached over and delicately plucked the bottle of Laudanum from her hands.]

That's not one to mess with if you don't know what you're doing,

[he commented quickly, capping it closed.]

It's very powerful and can mess you up if you're not careful. What kind of problems are you having, Himiko-chan?

[bleedformeplz]

[Himiko was aware what happened to her other self, she was gone, back to the sea, good for her. That hero version had a life, and this Himiko wasn't interested in following her around. Some questions remained unanswered, what a shame. Maybe one day she could get more. Toga Himiko, a hero. Yeah, very laughable.

The laudanum caught her eyes, so she read it to see if it was useful. Let's see... cough suppressant, pain reliever... side effects, ewww. If she wanted to stay up late, this is probably the ticket. Before she could put a second thought into this, the vial was plucked from her grip, nothing threatening, thank goodness. Himiko turned her head, topaz eyes darted to the intruder.]

Hey what gi-[Her voice fell silent when the professor spoke. Well, at least someone knows what they're talking about. Then, the way he spoke her was inviting and friendly. This face she never met before. Probably somewhere in the Omni, but she can't remember every face on there!]

Oi. [Her tone fell flat.] Who are you supposed to be?

[Let's be clear first.]

[slightlytaller]

[-- that was different.

Waver turned to face her now, brows furrowed and ocean green eyes clouded with confusion. Her pointed words were a snap back to reality.]

Apologies, [he said quickly, with an academic briskness that stood in contrast with the previous ease of apparent familiarity.]

I've mistaken you for someone else, and that's not fair to you. For a moment, I thought a girl that shared your face returned from the sea.

[He made a face, lips pressed in a firm, ponderous line in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. At least this time he didn't have any particular trauma with this face sharing drama.]

Was 'Himiko-chan' to familiar? I don't speak Japanese, and you're not the Himiko Toga that was a classmate to some of the other kids here, even though they didn't live in that particular part of the multiverse and didn't recognize her as a peer.

Apologies. Phone reply

[bleedformeplz]

[Is this karma for borrowing other people's faces in the past? It sure feels like it.

That's Himiko, shots will fire from her mouth. While on one hand it sounds like an opportunity to gather more about the other Himiko and her life, the other hand didn't want to play that role anymore. The sweet good girl Himiko is long gone. She is living her life. Her way.

Though, this guy probably heard the wonderful stories of the Villain Himiko, and ready to embrace that reality until--

Well, she didn't expect an apology. Her eyes fluttered from this unfamiliar development. Still, this professor got her undivided attention. Instead, her grin stretched, but not too far. This meeting... it felt pleasant and welcoming ]

No, that's fine. You can call me that. Though, I'm not sure what to call you mister.

[As for her issue, since he seems more familiar with these vials.]

I'm looking for something to help me sleep. It's between this or get myself drunk.

Bookstores

[foulhussy]

[ Books had always been a rarity for Kainé. Her grandmother had taught her how to read, yes, but they were expensive and she'd spent nearly all of her life living away from what could charitably be called civilization.

But with her making this new life in Trench, under such radically different conditions, and needing to learn all sorts of new skills, she's had to grow more accustomed to reading. She's not the fastest reader, and there's a lot of things in those books she doesn't understand, but... she can admit that she's starting to see the appeal.

At the moment she's paging through a book on gardening, coincidentally enough, when a familiar man passes by. Somebody who might be considered a friend, if she was feeling a little presumptuous. He reminded her of Weiss. ]

Not much luck, huh?

[slightlytaller]

[While he had no idea who Weiss was, Waver was indeed presumptuous enough to include Kaine among those he would dare to call 'friend.' Anna hadn't spent hours babbling about how much she loved Kaine, and they had crossed paths enough that Kaine had become a familiar face. Upon hearing her voice, he glanced over and offered her a small smile.]

Only if I'm interested in trying to make some ancient pastries.

[He commented, his voice softened by humor.]

I fell down a research hole recently, and then slipped onto a tangent where I wanted to see if I could find an ingredient Iskandar might recognize. It hasn't been so easy... but, maybe we can make something like those loukoumades I tried when I taught in Greece.

[He shrugged. The sticky, honey-coated donut-like pastries were fun to try at the time, but likely not as easy to make as they looked.]

[foulhussy]

[ He was definitely friendlier than Weiss. That talking book had taken pedantic and grumpy to whole new levels. But then, she's more spice than sugar herself. She makes a dismissive gesture at his anecdote. ]

Baking's too fucking complicated. Rather just get that shit from the market.

[ Waver isn't the gushing type, not like Anna, but Kainé can tell all the same how much he loves his ancient warrior king. Shit, she's pretty lukewarm about royalty as an institution, and as far as she knows "arcane entities summoned from elsewhere" is just about always bad shit (except for the Sleepers, sometimes), but she finds it hard not to be just a little fond of the guy. Unnerving, sometimes, knowing how many he's killed, all with a much more petty justification than hers. ]

No dice, huh? Figure they can't have everything.

[slightlytaller]

...You have a point.

[And a very good one; Waver was an admitted mess in the kitchen. However-- he was a scientist of a sort. How hard could it be?]

Even if they don't have everything that I was looking for, it might be an interesting endeavor to at least try.

It's not like I haven't made explosions in my apartment already.

[foulhussy]

[ Kainé has spent more time lately trying to learn new things, to be sure, but she has no interest in turning her kitchen into a goddamn mess however many times as it takes to make passable bread or cake or whatever. ]

Knock yourself out, buddy. Just leave me out of the splash radius.