hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...All of that happened, huh. That's the sentiment each and every week, and it's no different this time. Except, this time they've lost more people than before. Five.

The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]



[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.

But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.

And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)

This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]

Comments

[bogwife]

[From the moment they leave the courtroom and she agrees to help Della to the very start of the party, Zerinda is in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Her recently purple hair is pinned up on top of her head and she'd taken a small detour to the sewing room to cut up some muslin for the most slapdash, un-sewed apron known to man. She's chopping meat and vegetables (probably with a little more force than necessary), tossing it all in the biggest pot she can find, throwing in seasoning then tasting, throwing in more seasoning- she's not used to cooking for this many people so she might be overdoing it but she's in too deep to stop now.

On a stool next to her Princess dozes gently and at her feet Julius is walking in circles around her until she tosses him scraps of meat.

At the party itself she's settled on a blanket with her legs curled up underneath her. Princess is happily taking a swim in the pond and Julius is laid out next to her, gnawing through an entire raw chicken with his powerful but toothless jaws. Her food is sitting half-eaten in front of her and in her lap she's working with hyperfocus on flower garlands- she's already finished one made of forget-me-nots and borage flowers. The one she's weaving in her hands is pink roses and carnations.

If someone approaches her she might not notice until she's spoken to but she'll welcome any company on her blanket.]

kitchen

[mouflon]

Hey, if you have enough extra to feed him, pass it over here.

[ Hot pot, at least, is just getting the broth right and then cutting a lot of things into thin slices! Which Rin has been hard at work doing, on the other counter. ]

[bogwife]

-hm? Oh, sorry, Rin. [She picks up the plate of leftover meat off the counter (much to Julius's displeasure) and brings it over to set beside her.] What are you making?

[mouflon]

It's called a hot pot. [ I'm just going to... assume she found a portable warmer to keep it hot! Which is where the eponymous pot is currently located; Rin taps it with the utensil in her hand. ] If you keep broth hot enough, and you cut your ingredients thin enough, you can cook them by dipping them for a few seconds.

[ Rin shears a long, thin slice of beef off the meat Zerinda has brought her, and then passes it over with a pair of tongs. ]

Try it.

[bogwife]

[Zerinda gives her a curious look before taking the tongs from her and chowing down on the cooked beef. She chews slowly and her eyes go side.]

That is...so sodding good.

[mouflon]

[ That gets a laugh out of Rin, and as small as it is, it's genuine and light. ]

Right? And it's... kind of a communal thing. Just, a bunch of people around a table together, dipping all sorts of things into the pot in the middle...

It seemed like a good choice, for something where we're all supposed to come together.

[bogwife]

[Zerinda smiles and nods. It's nice, she thinks, to hear Rin laugh. She's been so serious every time she's spoken to her, so it's a nice change.]

I think that's perfect. Delicious and bond building, how much better could it get? [At their feet Julius makes an annoyed groan at which Zerinda sighs.] Just ignore him if he tries to beg. I'll feed him a chicken once we're done cooking and he'll be fine.

[mouflon]

Don't worry, I was planning to. Not that I'm trying to be mean to your...

Lizard?

[bogwife]

Wyvern. He's usually much bigger than this but he's adjusted to being this size awfully well.

[Look at this weird little bastard. He's the size of a terrier and occasionally drools.] His name is Julius.

[mouflon]

[ ...Okay, she can't say she's a fan of the name, but more importantly— ]

What, seriously? But they'll let a full-sized lion run around the place... What gives?

party

[nothingcanstop]

What're you making there?

[ Hi, gathering buddy. ]

Flower...things?

[bogwife]

Memorial garlands. [She holds up the one she's working on in all it's pink glory. The roses are being particularly difficult and she's pricked herself several times trying to get them to cooperate.] Mia and I made it our project to put them on all the dead people's doors so...I thought I'd work on these for Rose and Anna.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She thinks to ask for a moment, but-- no, there's only one person Mia could be. ]

That was you guys? They're really nice. [ ... ] Are you trying to do them for everyone?

[bogwife]

Mmhm, half of them at least. I made more before but they...sort of wilted before I got them put up. [See: she got distracted halfway through finishing them and forgot about them until it was too late. She looks a little embarrassed to admit it.] I need to pick out new flowers for Alice and Piers too while I'm at it.

[nothingcanstop]

I...could probably help with something, if you showed me how. I'm better with my hands than I am an oven. ...But, I don't really know a lot about what each flower means.

[bogwife]

I'd love it if you'd help! I...might have read the flower meaning book Mia found front to back in a night so I can help there. [Sometimes you just can't sleep, read a whole book on flowers and lose half a Monday.]

Let's start with...Piers. What are some feelings that come up when you think of him? Or even just colors and we can work from there.

[nothingcanstop]

[ You know, we've all been there before. ]

Uh... Well, black and white because of his hair. But...he was a rebel, so, proud, because...I like that kind of thing. Maybe... What kinds of feelings I feel specifically?

[bogwife]

It can be specific, or just your feelings surrounding...you know, what happened. [She turns her gaze to the garden, squinting at it while she things.] For pride...white amaryllis and I think there are some black irsies mixed in there. That'd look lovely, I think.

kitchen

[hardnosed]

[ Jasper is also here, and she's also chopping things up! Unfortunately, what she's working on... is a humanoid watermelon. She has gone full Gallagher at this point, and it is a truly horrible sight to behold. ]

You've had enough, [ she says, after a considerable period of silent slicing and dicing, speaking directly to Julius. ]

[bogwife]

[That watermelon sure is...hm! Concerning. But right now Zerinda is wrist-deep in hacking away at stew beef so her concern is staying reserved in the moment.

Julius looks up at her with oddly intelligent yellow eyes and narrows them just slightly, as if daring her to say that again.]

She's right, you know. [Zerinda stops chopping for a minute and looks down at him.] You weigh twelve times less than you used to, you're going to make yourself sick. [The wyvern somehow manages to look outright offended at this assumption before going back to glaring at Jasper.

The rudeness, the disrespect.]

[hardnosed]

[ If you think that she's above having a staring contest with an animal — okay, the sentence doesn't really need a conclusion, nobody's ever thought that. She's mad and she's directionless, but she's cutting into the flesh of something that Rose made, and she's staring a wyvern directly in the eyes, and maybe that'll be enough to make her forget the rest of what she is for five seconds.

She's still, somehow, cutting the watermelon Steven? The only adverse effect seems to be a couple of misshapen pieces.

After way too much of this, she casually tosses a too-thin slice of melon to Julius. The rudeness. The disrespect. ]

I didn't know these things took so much work.

[bogwife]

[Julius leaps up and snatches it out of midair, licking his toothless chops with his weird dragon tongue. Not quite an acceptable offering but it's a start.]

Taking care of a living thing is hard work. Some are easier than others, [She glances down at Princess the Nug, who is being perfectly behaved on her stool.] But it's all work no matter what.

[hardnosed]

[ To the goddamn lizard, who totally understands her, she provides a dull: ]

Nice catch.

[ And to Zerinda: ]

I meant — these things. The gatherings.

[bogwife]

...Oh. [Someday they'll have a conversation that doesn't involve Zerinda completely misunderstanding something Jasper says. Someday.

They're not usually this involved. Typically we just get treats and then alcohol after we found the bar but now that we have the kitchen it just felt right to use it. [She gives the stew a strong stir, scraping up potatoes from the bottom to the top.] Put in a bit of extra effort.

[She peers at the melon Jasper is working on again.] Are you...doing alright, at decimating that child-shaped fruit?

[hardnosed]

I'm fine. I've gotta do something.

[ She turns her eyes back to her work, which she is not going to mention is not, in fact, child-shaped, but shaped like Rose after she deliberately changes form!

If that's what she really was. The motive never named Rose Quartz, didn't say Jasper refused her help. Just like every other Gem on earth, it, infuriatingly, only mentioned Steven. She doesn't know what to do with that, and she's certainly not going to bring it up to Zerinda, so instead she just brings the knife down again. ]

... Della called it that too. I should probably leave off the part that looks like a head.