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 Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:20 pm
"There is no wrong flavor," Dari said, and then amended: "I mean, they taste like marshmallows, yes!" Distracting Lissie didn't seem like it was working, so he let her worry in peace.
Michael patted Lissie's hand with his free one and let her squeeze. The plane climbed and climbed and then leveled out.
"Alright," the voice over the intercom said, "We're now at cruising altitude, so you can unbuckle." The lit sign turned off with a "ding" and both Toby and Dari undid their belts.
"We're above the clouds," Michael said, wiggling Lissie's hand, "Now you can look."
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:59 pm
Lissie looked out the window. She stared for a long moment before looking back to Michael. "What are marshmallows made out of?" she asked. Clouds sort of looked like marshmallows, didn't they? They were both fluffy and white. She looked to Dari, then. "I don't think I've ever had one," she said. "
And what was touching a could like? ...Could one even--? They looked transparent, almost, but thick, too. What did a cloud taste like?
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:03 pm
"Sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin mostly," Dari said, inspecting the bag. Or magic, he supposed, if what ghosts did was magic. "Here, try one. They taste just like the real thing." He picked a marshmallow out of the bag and offered it to Lissie with a smile.
Michael was pleased that Lissie seemed less upset now that they were up in the air.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:31 pm
Lissie smiled and took the marshmallow offered. She took a small bite, hesitating at the sweet taste. Hm. This was good, for so few ingredients! She conjured another and offered it to Michael. "Try it," she said.
"What other foods do you like, Dari?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:44 pm
Michael didn't say that he'd had marshmallow since, instead offering: "They come in all sorts of flavors."
Dari shrugged. "I don't have to eat. I like most things, though. Squishy and sweet are good, but marshmallows are my favorite."
"He can eat exam tables too," Toby said, "and rocks. Silverware..."
"...anything, really," Dari agreed, voice a bit low as if in shame, "but usually just food."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:08 pm
“Flavors?” Lissie echoed, looking to Michael. She paused in thought. “Like strawberry?” Didn’t have to eat? ...What? Aliens didn’t have to eat?
“Exam tables?” She echoed, in disbelief. “You’ve eaten tables? Silverware?” Was there anything he couldn’t eat? “And conjured food doesn’t hurt them?” She asked, looking to Michael. Maybe they could invite Dari to a tea party sometime.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:11 pm
Michael nodded.
"I've eaten a lot of things," Dari said, and he took another marshmallow. His eyes flickered briefly to the floor and then back to Lissie. " 'Them'?" Who, aliens? Himself? Someone else?
"Conjured food doesn't seem to hurt anyone, unless it's meant to," Toby said, "It doesn't nourish people either, but it doesn't hurt them."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:24 pm
“Oh, good,” Lissie gave Toby a smile. “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” Not after she’d spent so long doing just that. She looked to Dari, then. “Victorian foods were plain. The things I can conjure now are better,” she said. “But you might like to try them. Michael and I can conjure them.”
“I’m nervous about blending in,” she admitted.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:27 pm
Michael smiled. "You'll be able to conjure specific things as you see them. Right now it's just things you know, but soon you'll be able to conjure anything you can imagine. It's exciting. You'll be able to taste new things."
"You can Google Victorian recipes now," Toby said, "and we heard all about chocolate." He watched Lissie worry then and shook his head. "You're human, so you won't have a whole lot of trouble. Even if people think you're a little weird, you'll learn. You're Welsh. People will think it's a cultural thing before they think you're a ghost."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:41 pm
Anything? Lissie considered that for a moment. Any book? Any food? “I look forward to that,” she said.
“Oh, Chocolate is awful!” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “So bitter. Google?” She asked, blinking. Wasn’t that one of the electronic things Michael had mentioned? “Then we can conjure them and have you try them.” ...Oh. Well, that was good. She nodded. “I hope you’re right.”
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:45 pm
"Not any more," Michael said, "It's different now. Things have come a long way in a hundred years. We'll have to get you some. You can still drink it, but mostly people eat it. Not in puddings, alone, full of different things." He seemed excited at the prospect of sharing new things with her. "It can be overwhelming at first, but it gets easier. For all things are different, people are quite the same."
Toby nodded. "Of course I'm right. I've been doing this for a lot of years. People will believe almost anything before they believe you're an entity. Sometimes the things they're willing to believe are a lot less strange than the supernatural."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 1:33 pm
Lissie looked skeptical. How could one hundred years change the taste of something so bitter? “I’ll try it,” she said. She smiled. “Can you conjure some?” People didn’t seem the same. They spoke differently and dressed differently—and they were different, certainly, than her ex fiancé. Michael was. And Toby was kind, even though she’d gotten him so sick.
“Would you try to use Victorian recipes, Toby?”
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 1:39 pm
"Use them for what?" Toby asked. To eat, he assumed, but Lissie had said herself that Victorian food was plain. "I don't know if I'd cook them for a party, but they can be fun."
Meanwhile Michael had conjured a Ghirardelli bar, just plain milk chocolate as the modern world made it. There were grades of chocolate now just as there had been when he was alive, except now the differences were more subtle. For Lissie, for the woman he'd kissed in the garden, whom had turned back from the white light for him, he'd give something good. Toby had helped him find the brands he liked and used this one often.
"Good choice," Toby piped up. Dari seemed content with his Victorian-style marshmallows.
"We can go to the grocery store when we get back," Michael said, even his calm Victorian manner betraying his excitement, "You can gather so many things to conjure in just one trip."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 1:54 pm
Lissie took the chocolate bar and studied it for a moment. She carefully unwrapped it and took a small bite. Her eyes went wide. She took another. “This is chocolate?” She asked, in disbelief.
“Oh, I’d like that,” Lissie agreed, and smiled. She’d never been to a grocery store before. “What rose should we do?” She asked.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:57 pm
Michael nodded. "It's good chocolate, but it is chocolate." He shrugged with one shoulder then, tilting his head slightly. "We can do whatever we like. Whitelighted spirits have much more freedom, and with a little travel we can get where ever we like as well."
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