|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:12 am
Kouyo is fine either way. He closes his eyes and rests his head gently against Setsushi's arm for a second. ... Actually, perhaps he should eat now, and take another pill for his headache before he gets into any magic.
"I am fine with whenever you all would like to eat," Kumoru tells Setsushi, handing the single thickest book to Jilan. As though confessing a crime, he adds, "I had a candy bar about an hour ago, so I will not starve anytime soon if you would like to wait."
He takes note of the High Priest's bruise but does not ask about it. If he knew them better, Kumoru might have offered to heal the bump, but the necromancer has a feeling that he is somehow being tested in coming here, and is not sure the Porcelain would approve of his healing spells.
Jilan takes the book back to where he had been sitting before, and flips through it quickly, frowns at the strange writing, and returns to Kumoru's side.
"I am a little hungry," he says awkwardly, but with a proud grin. Now seems like as good a time as any to practice talking.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:19 am
Then they will eat first, Setsushi declares, and goes to finish up the soup and start ladling it out.
He mentally prods Xiao Huo: poke, poke. If he awakens, Setsushi must ask him if he wants to try the soup, as he is not entirely sure which ingredients Xiao Huo cannot have... sweatdrop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:38 am
Xiao Huo stirs slightly, dreams of exploring unknown corners of Gaia bubbling to the surface of his mind. Maybe he will wake up in ten or fifteen minutes, but for the moment, he is not hungry enough for the smell of food to wake him.
Jilan goes to get a chair from one of the other tables, and brings it over to the head of the table the Porcelain had been sharing, then settles down in his own seat from before and studies his brother. ... But decides against doing anything mean to wake him up. Kumoru is here watching them now, after all.
Kouyo follows Setsushi to the kitchen, asking if he needs any help?
The necromancer heads over to the seat offered to him, and sits down, setting the rest of his books under the chair. He also peers at the sleeping toddler, smiling a little and letting him be for the moment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:42 am
Setsushi is fine; everything is almost ready.
He ladles out the soup into a set of (unmatched) bowls, garnishing them with pretty herbs, then brings them to the table with a basket of some fancily sliced bread. One for each of them... except for Xiao Huo, in case he decides to eat something different when he awakes.
Setsushi indicates the salt and pepper to the guests before settling in a chair. How has Kumoru's day been, he wonders?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:13 am
Kumoru shrugs a little, sipping at the soup before deciding to add a bit of salt. "The owner brought in three more boxes of books and just left them," he tells everyone. "So I had to sort those out and enter them into the computer and all. One of them was another elemental magic book, so I looked through that a little bit. Other than that, it was fairly quiet today."
Jilan moves his book and Kumoru's book to the other table, along with his zither case so that they will be out of the way. He then takes a slice of bread, and starts picking the crusts off and dropping them into his soup.
"I think that Mister Whitestone does not care sometimes about his store," Jilan says, giving off a confused feeling. Then he asks, "Do you know if Mister Whitestone knows about making portals?"
Shaking his head, Kumoru shrugs again. "Not sure what he knows. I hardly see him."
Then he glances at the gathered Porcelain. "How have you all been today? Enjoying the puzzles?"
Kouyo settles in his seat beside Setsushi, and sips at his soup quietly for a moment before replying:
"I have tried some number puzzles, and they are very interesting. I have also had flowers to tend to. When they are ready, I will make the pretzels puzzle."
Xiao Huo slowly opens his eyes, then inhales deeply through his nose and sighs before sitting up straight and stretching.
... There is soup? He leans over and glances into Jilan's bowl, yawning. Soup with stuff in it. Are there bananas? Xiao Huo likes those. Do they make good soup?
Jilan stirs the vegetables around in his soup to double-check, and shakes his head. "No banana," he states, then offers his brother a bit of bread crust.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:42 am
Setsushi is afraid that he has proved not to have much of a head for the puzzles at all sweatdrop
When Kumoru is done with the salt, Setsushi takes the salt and pepper for himself, adding an obscene amount to his soup. He then looks over at Xiao Huo. Banana soup?? D:
Would Xiao Huo like some? Setsushi didn't use any meat or other things that can make some peoples' stomachs hurt, but as he doesn't know exactly what foods are bad for Xiao Huo, he does not know if it is truly safe. Still, Xiao Huo ought to eat more things than toast.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:35 am
What? Bananas are good. Soup is good. So it was as easy as maths to see that banana soup must also be very good.
Xiao Huo is so smart~
Kumoru laughs softly and reaches over to mess up the boy's hair a little. "I will have to see if I can find some sort of recipe for that for you sometime."
Xiao Huo giggles and fixes his hair. He has soup now, right? That is different than toast. And he has bananas every day, too. That's... at least close to five colors, right?
Jilan starts spooning the now soup-soaked bread crusts out of his bowl and eating them, glancing between Kouyo and Setsushi and his father. He then hesitantly asks the older Porcelain if they somehow think that Kumoru is not a good guardian or something?
Kouyo declines to answer either way, not wanting to hurt Jilan since he seems to care so much for the human mage. He assures the older boy, however, that Jilan and Xiao Huo both seem to be doing well under his care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:23 am
... Banana soup...
Setsushi gets up to go back to the kitchen and get a bowl for Xiao Huo. After serving the littlest one, he settles back in his chair and resumes eating his own food, neatly and daintily.
Setsushi is a little more generous than Kouyo: the boys do indeed seem to be healthy, so Kumoru must be caring for them well. But Setsushi does have to ask, where are they all studying? sweatdrop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:40 pm
Xiao Huo sips cautiously at the broth, then deems it to be good and starts downing it more quickly. The little boy is hungrier than he thought.
"I read in my room," Jilan tells Setsushi. "Xiao Huo does not study yet." He glances over at his father and smiles faintly. "Kumoru has offered to teach me magic, however. I will study that at home."
"He has offered to teach us as well," Kouyo says, looking between the mage and the older boy. Has Jilan learned to speak any spells yet?
Jilan wilts in his chair a little. "No. I still learn to read. The alphabet has many letters, all with different sounds."
"A bit difficult if you are not used to speaking, I would imagine," the mage adds. "But we work on it."
Magic. There's something Xiao Huo could learn. Not that he's hinting at anything....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:59 am
Setsushi gently pokes Kouyo in the arm, playfully chiding him not to put such unreasonable expectations on Jilan. Jilan hasn't had very many years to study yet, and even then, most people find it much harder to learn spells than Kouyo does.
He reassures Xiao Huo that the boy will learn his own kind of magic in time, even if he doesn't study. He doesn't really need to worry about that now, though; there are plenty of other things to learn first, like letters.
... Setsushi does wonder, though, why Jilan does not go to any school. Does Gaia not have any good schools? gonk Do their siblings attend?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:12 am
Kouyo huffs a little at being poked, but does not seem actually angry. Maybe it is easier to learn human magic than Porcelain magic? The priest shrugs a little.
Jilan shrugs. He did just move in like a week ago. Donat goes to school, but Lucretia does not and neither does Bhel. Bhel will go later, though, the boy is fairly sure.
"Oh, Bhel will go to school if I have to tie him up and drag him there," Kumoru says with a small laugh. "In time, though. He's barely learned to talk."
"I could send Jilan to school as well, if he would like." He glances over at the boy.
The Porcelain fidgets a little. School would be nice in Gaia, too, he supposes, but... less time for learning to read magic. He will go to school if Kumoru wishes it, though.
Xiao Huo sure isn't going to school =P He can just explore everywhere. It will be like... field trips every day.
"As long as Jilan or your sister goes with you."
Whatever.... Xiao Huo crosses his arms and begins to formulate poorly-concealed plans to escape if he is ever in a school building.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:16 am
Setsushi smiles and nods, giving off a barely detectable feeling of relief that the children do have the chance for a proper education.
Noticing that several of the diners have begun to finish their meals, Setsushi glances at Kouyo, and sends him a private questioning note -- shall they test Kouyo's magically-inclined mind on the books soon?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:24 am
Kumoru glances at Kouyo, making brief eye contact with him and looking momentarily confused before going back to eating his soup. He is nearly finished, and goes to add a bit of pepper to the broth he has left.
Kouyo looks up at Setsushi, having spent the last few moments studying Kumoru closely. What? Oh, yeah, sure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:28 am
Carefully sequestering any feelings of apprehension he might have, Setsushi cleans his mouth carefully before beginning to collect empty bowls and unneeded utensils.
While Setsushi cleans this table, Kouyo and the guests may move to the other, if they wish to begin looking at the texts now... ... ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:37 am
Xiao Huo immediately runs for the other table and snatches up the thick book Jilan had placed there earlier, leaving his soup unfinished.
Jilan sends scolding feelings and tries to drag his younger brother back to the table. Xiao Huo should finish his soup first. Besides, this is all kind of grown-up talk. Can't he do something else until they are all done?
As he moves to the other table, Kouyo accepts the books that the mage offers him, flipping the top one open and paging through it a little. He again selects a seat next to the wall, and leans against it a little as he rests one elbow on the table and his cheek on his palm.
... Can Setsushi bring the medicine for his headache, too, please?
After giving Kouyo the books, the necromancer takes his big book back from Xiao Huo.
"Setsushi, do you have anything to keep the little one entertained while we study?" he asks.
Once his father is dealing with Xiao Huo, Jilan drags his chair close to Kouyo and peers over his shoulder at the book he is looking through.
... How did High Priest Kouyo get that bruise, anyway?
Kouyo does not want to talk about it....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
