week 0 - continuation

[vicedirector]

seven vices week 0 ♫ tuesday - sunday With that revelation, things are sure to be more tense--or maybe, you prefer to go the hope route? Either way, the atmosphere of the town begins changing ever so subtly. Once in a while, you can feel someone staring at you from behind, though when you turn to check, no one will be there. Footsteps can also be heard echoing when one stands close to the void, even when alone....of course, no one will be there, either. As of Tuesday, extra food will be found in the kitchen. The ingredients are very based in Western cuisine: rye and wheat bread, potatoes, cabbage, beets, onions, cucumbers, assorted mushrooms, and the like are all supplied. In addition, there are also miscellaneous spices, eggs, milk, and an abundance of fish and pork. Various dishes made with the above ingredients will also be set out for anyone to take during lunch and dinner. A copy of the rulebook has been pinned to the front of the chapel, and a wooden sign now stands at the east edge of town near the clinic: Welcome to Lebensbaum | EST. 1623 | Population: ♜♜♜♜♜♜♜. The bonfire will be lit every night from 10PM to 6AM, after which it will extinguish on its own. >Mingle? This is the last open mingle for Week 0. No motives will be given until next Monday, and thus no murders will occur. Enjoy your last week of safety! When posting toplevels, specify the time and location. If you plan on having any private conversations between characters, remember to let us know in the post linked below. cast setting rulebook profiles private conversations

Comments

[okuri]

The food here is different and foreign, but there's one plus side to it: the strong spices. The days when he could taste anything seemed like a distant memory, but his sense of smell was still preserved. It was the only way he could enjoy food anymore.

Yoite waits for the crowd to disperse before approaching the meal table, not wanting to be bothered by anyone. Instantly he's attracted to the pickled fish dish more due to it's vivid appearance than anything else. Even better, it had the strong scent of vinegar (masking the faint smell of the substituted sugar crystals on top), which at least gave him an idea of what it was supposed to taste like.

Having taken more than a generous portion, Yoite finds the nearest secluded corner and sits down to eat. It's not quite a freshly baked vanilla cake, but he can imagine that it tastes like vinegar rice with fish. By all accounts, he seems to be enjoying it.

[takanome]

Takao is not surprised when Yoite does not sit down next to him. Would he appreciate it? Yeah, especially because in the amount of time it's taken for Yoite to actually pick up a plate, the number of people sitting beside Takao himself has accordingly decreased. He definitely didn't expect it, though, and this outcome is okay with him. He has his hawk eye. He can see Yoite's face just fine.

What's not fine with Takao is that he sees no change in this face. Now, Takao is perfectly happy that Yoite is enjoying his food well enough. However, this seems to be about the same reaction as Yoite has when he's simply picked out something compatible with his preferences. There's no discrete eureka moment. How has Takao's plan gone wrong here? Did he pick the wrong spice and loop back around to using the right one? No, he's pretty sure he saw right. Maybe Yoite just started from a different part and hasn't tasted the sugared part yet. Yeah, with stuff in the way Takao can't actually see the dish itself that well. So in a maneuver that he's using for the first time (though probably not the last), Takao gets up for a second helping of this kugelis stuff and sits back down at the same table as Yoite, though the opposite corner.

"Yo."

[okuri]

Yoite looks up at Takao for a second as he sits down, a blank expression on his face. He would much prefer to be alone, but he decides to stay, his own way of saying "thanks" for the whole napkin incident the day before. After a moment (in which he gulps down another spoonful of fish), he finally responds.

"Good Afternoon."

Still, he wasn't the best at conversations.

[takanome]

Since meeting Yoite, Takao has lowered his expectations for what constitutes a conversation. Midorima had already set a pretty low bar. So by those standards, this is a bright green light. (He just wants to see that palpable dot-dot-dot over his head, too.)

"I'd never been to a foreign country before, you know." He begins to yammer. "Of course there had been Western food at home and stuff, sometimes--" the deft way Takao twirls his fork between his fingers is testament to that-- "but without being there for real it never sinks in, how different everything is. You know?"

[okuri]

The yammering actually reminded him of Gau, so he wasn't too taken aback by it. He listens, though Takao may notice that Yoite seems particularly intent on holding eye contact as he eats, in order to read his lips.

Finally when Takao's done, he replies with a small nod.

"It looks different. Colorful. The spices smell stronger too." It's all he can really say, as he really can't comment on the taste. He tries to imagine the difference, though.

[takanome]

"Yeah, the colors are what really hammer down that the material itself is different." Takao can see the gradations in hue on things like leaves, and it's weird - most of the ingredients seem to come from at least slightly different strains of plans or whatever.

He takes a couple bites quietly as he thinks over the other thing Yoite said - or, from another perspective, didn't say. The spices smell strong? It's true, but isn't taste the more obvious way to say it? Takao is really starting to wonder...

"Well, some people might think strong is a bad thing. Is there anything you really didn't like? Too bitter, too sweet...?" He lets that last word hang suggestively in the air.

[okuri]

Yoite pauses, and with the way he talks it's difficult to tell whether it's intentional or not. But he has to say something in reply, and he's never really been the lying type (except out of necessity).

"I can't taste it." He takes another spoonful of fish though, and gulps it down.

[takanome]

"What?!"

Takao inhales out of rhythm, like a record scratch, to make up for the sudden outburst. He grunts "Wh--" again but manages to muffle that sound, the why, because it's pretty obvious that this must be some extension of the terminal illness.

"Like--" he tries to laugh-- "one of those colds where everything is just mush, but all the time? Wow..."

He looks back down at both their plates. "I guess I was kind of being a tool, huh..."

[okuri]

"I guess. I can still smell, though." His response is muted, almost flat. It's not something he really liked talking about because of how much he misses it, and how much it opens him back up to the outside world.

He shrugs slightly and pushes away his plate, having eaten everything there was anyway.

"A what?" The euphemism is lost on him.

[takanome]

Takao laughs gently, more so than before - soft enough to be self deprecating. Yoite clearly needs to be around guys his own age more, in his unbiased opinion. "I did something not so kind." He reaches in the direction of the plate, taps a stray crystal with his fork.

"It's sugar. I put it in as a joke. Thought it would make you freak out and laugh." At this point, it wouldn't surprise Takao too much if he were scolded instead, and he'd try to accept that. Better for Yoite to feel justified anger than continue the obvious awkwardness about his condition.

[okuri]

His eyes go wide as he realizes just want Takao did.

"Oh." He doesn't feel anger, nor does he really know how to react, having honestly never been the target of a prank before. Yukimi had tried to make him laugh ages ago, but since it was a fruitless endeavor he had ceased.

"That will never work with me." All he feels is the regret associated with losing that sense in particular. He curls a hand into a fist and looks away.

[takanome]

"I see." Takao isn't sure what to do with what he sees. It's different on the basketball court where good ideas are instinctive after all his practice. He begins to take bites of food between his words again - paced out a little more carefully than usual, since Yoite isn't looking right at him and that tends to indicate a less "responsive" period from the other boy.

"You don't have to answer, but if you want, do you not feel the difference between hot and cold either? One of my fallback tricks depends on that, is all."

[okuri]

The silence he doesn't mind, as it's usually how most of his interactions go. It was still weird to him that Takao insisted on repeated conversations with him, but it wasn't all together unpleasant.

"I can still feel and see." Purposely, he leaves out hear. He can hear, but it comes and goes nowadays.