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 Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:36 pm
Armed with his questionably gotten gains, Faustite renewed his trip across Destiny City to reach Ana's flat. Now burdened with onesie pajamas, he thought it better to teleport and avoid frying the thing. They weren't wrapped, however; it took a quick detour to a closed gift shop in the mall for him to find a suitably large gift bag. He tried to add tissue paper to it, but found that the thin pages lit up quickly in his hands, and abandoned the idea. Another thought took him back across town, and he was at Ana's.
Again. Hours past the time he initially wanted to visit.
He donned Eion's appearance and waited at her apartment door. She wouldn't be expecting him, and thus wasn't about to let him in without knowing he was there, but part of him wondered if this was a terrible idea. She might hate him by now, making his visit more inflammatory than reparative. She might be gone, whisked away by Malus to the White Moon again.
Again. Eion bit his tongue until his mouth stopped screwing itself into a frown.
It's the Thought that Counts, he reminded himself, and he raised a fist to the door. Paused. Asked himself if he was sure that he followed Waru's suggestion to the letter. He had a new cookie recipe to give her, but he veered off the path with the unicorn onesie. Was that too much? Did it imply something he didn't know about? Was he sure she'd like that, or would she think he thought her childish?
Did it matter? Eion didn't know. He swallowed, then knocked.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:27 pm
“Coming!” Ana’s voice could be heard through the door as she made her way to open it, wondering who it was that was coming to visit her. She hoped it was Rosie, the idea of kissing her friend again was…well. Nice. Or Aria…for the same reason. But, honestly if it was either of them, she would have to cut their time short since she was expected at the food truck in an hour. She was ready though, dressed for her job, even if she was just standing in the window taking money.
It was nice to have something to do. Something that nobody could judge her for.
Opening the door, same smiled at the visitor, blinking in surprise when she saw Eion. “Oh! Hey!”
Ana worked very hard not to let any bad feelings show on her face, even if she was still angry, still upset…still.
Conflicted by her brother. “It’s been a while!”
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:03 am
"Hi," he answered when she opened the door. Felt strange to say as much; he hadn't realized that he didn't often say hello to people.
Maybe that was why they hated him.
Eion watched her hands before he looked at her face. Something about staring directly at her when she just opened the door seemed… wrong, though he couldn't say why. He held out the folded unicorn onesie toward her, with the s'mores cookie recipe page sitting neatly on top.
Maybe it wouldn't be enough. He wasn't sure how things could ever fill the holes in a relationship anyway. Maybe this one was meant to have holes, since all he could do was lie to make it work. Fafnir's contacts could only teach so much in their narrow window of time together.
"Sorry," he added, as if that explained the gifts.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:29 pm
She blinked and stared at him, eyes flickering down to the items in his hands and finally Ana reached out to take the onesie and the recipe, her smile faltering just a little. “Sorry…for bringing me things? I mean…I never say no to presents…I can’t imagine that ever changing…” The laugh was just a little forced, and she was sure that he would be able to tell but…
Well. This was kind of awkward.
“Do you want to come in? I can cook some food for you if you’re hungry, I mean, I know you are, but I have some fresh cookies you can help yourself to and I’ll whip up some…something. I know I have food in here I can cook.”
She nodded for him to follow her into the apartment and was happy to turn away. She could let the smile drop when she had her back to him, though it was back when she returned from her room, having put the gifts onto her bed. “So! What brings you here, Eion~?”
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:52 am
"I was trying to apologize," he muttered, looking down as he stepped into her apartment. Bundled up as he was, his gloves rustled together while he fiddled with his hands. "For last time." He wasn't sure how else to say it.
He must've done something wrong from the start. But how was he supposed to know? He wasn't human. He wasn't Albite. He didn't know how to read people for what they needed, only for how he could use them. And he wasn't sure what Ana needed, only that she needed, and he couldn't puzzle out what that was.
Everyone who came over from the other side, they were missing something. Sometimes it was just memories. Sometimes it was more than that.
Chaos patched the holes. Paved them over like tarmac over a pothole-stricken road. Those patches, they were noticeable sometimes, especially when that person was known before they came over. Eion could pick out those holes. Could pick out the anger that wasn't there before, the outbursts that weren't so different than his.
Eion followed her around because he wasn't sure what else to do. He looked around without taking in where he was; his mind was elsewhere, trying to solve an unsolvable problem.
"Spoke to Albite. He said I should bring you something." He licked his lips, tried to puzzle out how to explain without demeaning it with his taciturn phrasing. "Said we should work on something together. Something you like to do. So…" He gestured to the gifts across the room, where they sat on the bed. "Brought you a recipe. Thought you could show me how to make it."
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 9:26 am
Ana nodded and turned to him with another smile, holding the recipe card close. “No need!” Especially when he had no idea what he was apologizing for, she was sure. But that was fine. This was just how he was and. That was fine. He didn’t need her, and she would prove that she could stand on her own and didn’t need him either.
That was just how they were. Siblings who…
…Didn’t need anyone. Not really.
“That was thoughtful of Albite to suggest, and I’d love to show you how to make these…”
Her eyes scanned the recipe and she gave a sigh. “...I would have to go to the store for some of these things…would you be at all interested in learning to make sugar cookies? Or chocolate chip? I have the supplies for both of those here. Or I guess we could go to the store, but I know you being here is a limited time thing and wasting it on buying marshmallows and graham crackers seems…”
Breaking off, Ana shrugged. “But it’s your time and if that’s what you want to do, your big sister will see that it is done.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:45 pm
There wasn't a need? Eion felt some of the tension slip from his shoulders. Felt easier to breathe, too, like his body had been reticent to breathe too much, lest it disturb the tenuous peace.
He didn't have to apologize. Eion chanced a brief smile.
It didn't matter much to him, whether she taught him to make s'mores cookies, sugar cookies, or lumps of coal. This was something he hadn't had when he was growing up — no one taught him to bake or use the stove. He'd spent some time with Axinite, learned how to turn an oven on, but he hadn't retained much. Wouldn't be much help to her, he figured, but.
How many years had it been since he did something small like this? Something domestic, within the bounds of family, where they took for granted knowing each other? He felt it like an old, familiar ache — reassuring for its presence, even if the hurt stung him and eroded his resilience.
But that didn't matter. He didn't have to guard himself here.
So he nodded. "Anything you want to make." He crossed to one of the counters, hitched himself up on top of it. "Tell me what to do."
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:45 pm
Ana paused, giving him a look as he perched atop one of the counters, and couldn’t stop a soft huff of a laugh. “Yeah? All right. Chocolate chip it is then. If you promise to be a good student, I might let you lick the spoon.” She almost made a move to reach up and ruffle his hair, but stopped herself and began pulling out the ingredients that would be needed instead.
He wanted to learn. He had come to apologize…and she should allow it. She should be…well. Maybe not thankful…but. Glad he was making an effort.
She couldn’t hug him, couldn’t protect him…so cooking for him and teaching him how to do so…well…
Maybe not teaching him too well or Ana wouldn’t be needed for this either.
“If you just want to just watch, you can. Up to you. But if you want to help…you can’t really just sit on the counter. If you want to learn how to make them…then you’ll do the work and I’ll instruct.” Ana looked up at him and shrugged, holding out a stick of butter. “Your choice.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:53 pm
"Mm." He wondered which would be the better option. It wasn't about him — he couldn't envision himself developing a baking habit like Axinite, even if his middle doubled as an oven — but he wasn't sure which way would be better for her, either. Could imagine Waru whispering that he should do whatever option brought them closer together, which was…
Eion slid back off the counter, hitched up his leggings afterward. He approached his sister, took up the stick of butter on offer, and looked down at it. Maybe a little longingly.
Sticks of butter — they weren't unfamiliar to him. There were a few times in his life that he bit clean through one, chewed it, swallowed it. Paper and all. They were delicious, he found, if he starved enough to need one.
But this was about Ana, not free snacks. He swallowed back his hunger spit and nodded to her, waiting for the next step.
"Do I eat it?" He asked. "Can I eat it?" He gave her a quizzical look, devoid of all signs of mischief. He looked young in his honesty.
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:07 pm
“Can you…can you eat what? The…the butter? No!” Blinking at Eion, Ana looked mildly concerned and horrified at the question, and for a moment she felt pleased with the fact that if he thought he should eat the butter it meant that she wouldn’t be losing this role in his life any time soon but…
“No, we don’t just eat the butter, come on, we’ll put it in the mixing bowl. Add some sugar to it and then some eggs. We’re making cookies not giving ourselves heart attacks.”
She paused and shrugged after a moment. “...It won’t change how much butter we do end up eating though, I guess. So, yeah by the end of today I bet you’ll eat all the butter. But not yet. We need to transform it into something sweeter, something that won’t just…make you sick to shove in your mouth.”
Pulling the mixer closer to the edge of the counter, Ana nodded at it. “The whole stick, Ei. Plop it on in.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 3:00 am
But she gave it to him. Eion looked down at the butter in his hands, wondering why else she'd hand him a stick of calories —
Oh. As she spoke, Eion looked over his shoulder. Mixing bowl… As he looked at the counter, he saw bowls, and some contraption with a bowl attached, but he wasn't sure which one qualified as a mixing bowl. Iff it was just a bowl they could mix things in, then he could pick any of the bowls.
So he picked a nice-looking one. Something ceramic, with scalloped sides and pieces of stained glass decorating the outside. He sat the still-wrapped stick of butter at the bottom, then found a set of housekeys in it. That was weird, and probably had no business in the mixing bowl, so he took them out and set them next to it.
Oh, but she was messing with one of the other bowls — the one with the contraption in it. Was that the mixing bowl? Second guessing himself, he plucked the stick of butter out of the one, joined her, and dropped it into the bottom of the stainless steel bowl. This one seemed easier to mix in, at least.
Turning, he leaned against the counter, with elbows propped on the edge. "Had to eat sticks of butter before. Never had a heart attack." Sounded like an exaggeration to him.
"Where's the rest?"orangeish sherbert help this idiot left the wrapper on…
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