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 Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:33 pm
"Huh? Oh," Setsushi says, snapping out of carefully listening for anything coming from Lily's direction. "Well, one uses the chopsticks," he says, noting that if Akram would like he could bring a fork or spoon; "dipping the noodles into the sauce before eating."
He points out the various seasonings, noting, "One normally puts the seaweed over the noodles and adds sesame, wasabi, and so forth to the broth to taste, but Master Akram may choose to add or leave out whichever he pleases."
... And if Miss Lily wants a noodle, perhaps she should let Setsushi cut her a smaller piece first? What does Lily say to udon, he asks, in a far more measured and 'enunciated' form of projection than usual, in which Setsushi mentally writes each stroke of the characters.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:47 pm
A feeling like someone on the other side of a fogged window, tracing with a stubby childlike finger over the strokes of Setsushi's mental characters... but, like someone on the opposite side of the window, her tracing is just the mirror-image of the symbol.
Lily giggles, then lets out a triumphant squeal as she steals the single noodle. She holds onto it as she finishes chewing her vegetables, and peers up at Setsushi through half-closed golden eyes.
Akram nods as he picks up the chopsticks, and flinches slightly away from the Porcelain and the little girl before he goes ahead and adds all of the condiments as instructed.
"Might as well give everything a try," he murmurs with a small smile, and leans over the dish of broth like one who is not at all confident in his chopsticking abilities. Then he picks up some noodles and dunks them into the little dish, and proceeds to try to eat them as quietly as he can manage.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:47 am
... Setsushi tilts his head curiously and frowns.
"... Master Akram," he says softly, "I think Miss Lily is reflecting my mindspeech." ... Almost a moment later, he feels like apologizing, as the statement seems a little bit pointless, but...
He thinks back to what the cat-like man told him... ... ... and finds he cannot remember it very well. But he seems to recall, he thinks aloud, that the other man with a cabbage noted that many strange types of children have been known to emerge from the plants; perhaps Miss has some sort of magical power? In addition to her... rather unusual appearance.
... Magical as she may be, though, Setsushi doesn't quite want her to try eating a whole length of noodle at once, and reaches out to pinch off part of the one Lily is holding, so that she can eat her end first, if she chooses.
3nodding ?
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:49 am
Akram nods as he slurps down the last of the length of noodles, then wipes a few drops of broth from his chin with a sleeve. "I can tell she and her sister both have quite a bit of magic in them, but Crispin and I have not really seen them use it yet." He shrugs a little and picks up more noodles with the chopsticks. "Although I guess we will find out eventually, when they get older if not sooner."
He sits up a bit straighter, brows drawing together as he considers something for a moment. "I felt nothing from the cabbage before they came out of it, though...." Then Akram shrugs again and goes back to eating, watching the little girl and the Porcelain.
... Magical power in addition to his ... rather unusual appearance. Lily laughs playfully and points emphatically at Setsushi for a second. Then, with a bit less certainty, she points at Akram, too. And quickly squirms back in her seat, looking away shyly as she sticks the noodle in her mouth.
Once she is finished with the noodle, she kicks her feet a little under the table and peers at the other half of her noodle, still in Setsushi's possession.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:05 pm
Setsushi peers curiously at Akram -- does he mean to imply that he would have expected to sense magic inside the cabbage? "I understood Master was a knight-merchant, but is he also a mage?" he asks, sounding fairly impressed.
... But whatever Akram's initial reaction might be to that, he's rather distracted by Lily's thoughts. Exuberant and uncultured she is indeed, just as Porcelain children often are, but... he still can't help feeling faintly embarrassed. redface
Does she want more udon? he carefully enunciates at her again.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:23 pm
"I am not," Akram replies somewhat testily, and continues eating his noodles in silence.
Lily ignores Setsushi in favor of attempting to steal another noodle from her human guardian.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:29 pm
"Oh."
sweatdrop
Setsushi clears his throat. "Are the noodles to your taste? I hope they are not too strange... But they are just the sort of thing that would be served in the Empire on a day like this."
It rather reminds Setsushi of his childhood, he thinks partly to himself, in a somewhat nostalgic and sad tone...
... ... ... And then he looks down at the noodle in his hand, unsure what will become of it. confused
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:52 pm
The merchant seems to relax considerably when Setsushi changes the subject. "No, they are quite good," he assures the Porcelain with a quick smile. "Much milder than most of the cuisine from back home, but then most Gaian food tastes that way to me."
He twists the last of the noodles around his chopsticks and dips them in the broth, makes a small displeased sound when half of them start to fall off the utensils, and then attempts to strike a balance between urgency and politeness in order to eat them before he drops them all.
When Akram finishes, Lily snatches the bowl of broth, and reaches in with her fingers to try to pick out the stray bits of noodle floating in it.
Sighing and watching Lily, Akram adds this to the list of things he will have to make sure she stops doing as she grows up.
After a moment, he tells Setsushi quietly, "I apologize for sounding cross before. I am no wizard, but I can sense magic. That is all." Akram clenches his jaw a little and then adds, "Please just do not bring it up again."
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:00 pm
Setsushi seems rather surprised and flustered, sending quiet and apologetic feelings towards Akram. Just as ordered, he drops that train of conversation like a hot stone.
Instead, he notes, "I am glad you did not find the meal unpalatable. I worry that with my own poor taste, I will inadvertently knock someone flat with fish or pepper someday..."
Chuckling nervously, he adds, "There are other types of enjoyable summer foods I could prepare, whenever Master Akram would like to save himself the trouble of cooking a meal during the day."
... Lily is sure she doesn't want this noodle???
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:13 pm
Lily pauses with one noodle dangling from her dripping fingers halfway to her open mouth, and looks at Setsushi. This noodle?
She looks at the one the Porcelain his holding, then at the one in her hand, then back at Setsushi's.
... And looks very confused.
Akram gestures as though to dissipate Setsushi's concerns like curls of smoke. Aah, which reminds him....
"Do you mind if I smoke?" he asks, settling back in his chair and taking out his long skinny pipe. "The food was quite good. I am always up for trying new things. Although..." he quirks an eyebrow a little, a small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "I wonder, have you ever really knocked someone flat with pepper, as you say?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:55 am
... Setsushi's noodle?, he suggests to Lily, wiggling it at her gently.
... and is interrupted in this rather undignified activity by Akram's question. "Huh? ... Smoke?" he repeats... and the blank expression on his face suggests that even in his time in Gaia so far, he hasn't heard that verb being used for much other than a method of flavoring food.
... As for whether Setsushi really has injured someone with pepper, well... actually, there was a situation that may qualify in which someone, not knowing what he was getting into, inhaled a bit of the broth of a young Setsushi's stew...
sweatdrop
... Setsushi tends to go mild nowadays, since he knows he cannot trust his own taste.
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:19 am
Lily giggles again and reaches for Setsushi's noodle with her free hand.
"You have not seen people smoking here in Gaia before?" Akram asks, sounding a bit surprised. "Most of the time I think people smoke cigarettes, though. Little white sticks that smell terrible." He holds up two fingers to indicate the approximate length of a cigarette.
As he fills his pipe and then fumbles in a pocket for his lighter, Akram tells Setsushi, "I must have poor taste as well, since I do not mind spicy food. So you need not worry about my portions, at least." And then he asks, "Oh, have you had a chance yet to try the spices I gave you?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:34 am
"Oh, is that the word for it, then?" asks Setsushi. He has, indeed, encountered cigarettes before, and perhaps for that reason he subconsciously leans a little bit away from Akram as the other man prepares his pipe.
"I did taste them," Setsushi says of the spices, "but..." ... Well, he already explained to Master Akram why that doesn't mean much. sweatdrop "I would like to use them properly in the preparation of a worthy meal, but I have not had a chance to cook in earnest for many weeks..." And just to toss them into some thirty-minute dinner would be disrespectful, he feels.
Though perhaps he will have occasion again... ... ... his thoughts trail off as his mind wanders, his fingers absently relinquishing the noodle to Lily.
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:55 am
Akram's eyes dart over to Lily as soon as the first curls of smoke rise from his pipe, as though just now contemplating the wisdom of lighting up in front of the little one. But... well, they are outside, and the space around them is open enough to permit a breeze to pass through. The merchant's pipe smells at least a bit nicer than the average Gaian cigarette, and Akram leans away from Setsushi a little anyway to settle back contentedly in his seat.
"Perhaps you could come over to the apartment sometime for dinner? I could prepare something from home to eat, and you could bring something, as well." He pauses a moment to think and to attempt without success to produce a smoke ring. "We could invite Reiga and his family as well. And I guess you would have a chance to meet Lily's sister." Akram laughs once. "If that would not deter you from attending."
Tipping her head back, Lily opens her mouth and dangles the noodles, one at a time, into it. Then she reaches for the plate of chopped vegetables again and starts taking spinach leaves.
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:04 pm
Of course it wouldn't deter him! ... If Master Akram is sure that he would not mind Setsushi and Rika's imposition. But if he is sure it is no trouble, then Setsushi would be eager to experience Akram's native cuisine; perhaps it will be instructive as to how to use those splendid spices?
... ... ... Glancing over at Lily, though, he can't help but marvel at how much she is eating for being such a small child. "It seems she will grow up tall and strong," he says with a chuckle, as he enunciates at her, Spinach.
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