Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

[cacophonish]

Jeff overhears the question. It's not directed at him, but it totally lines up with his own interests, so he pipes up, his tone a little excited because, hello, fellow vegetarian!

Besides, the dude she asked doesn't know, anyway.

"Oh! Here, I've been scoping everything out, 'cause, you know, it can be hard to, like, find anything but bread and salad at these kinds of parties, sometimes. So, I think--" He points to César's peneques. "--these are safe? Pretty sure it's just cheese and stuff, no meat. And this is a veggie quiche--" Pointing to Eddie's offering. "And I think someone brought mashed potatoes, but I dunno if the gravy's safe or anything..."

[astrogator]

His voice is familiar, but she doesn't panic, because he was never someone who wished her harm. At least, not that she knew.

'Thank you, Citizen Jeff,' she says softly, her gaze darting from one dish to another. 'It's so hard to tell, sometimes. I don't object to bread and salad, but no need to miss out if there's more.'

Where Tayrey's from, the mere presence of meat on the table would have prompted disgust in most people, but she's learned not to be so squeamish.

[cacophonish]

She's the second person he's come across today that seems familiar with him-- or, at least, familiar enough to pair his name and face with each other. It'd be more disconcerting if he didn't already get some... semblance of an explanation from the winged elf chick.

And if this wasn't something that happened from time to time back home, too, though in that case the reasoning was less to do with world hopping (and BDSM????) and more to do with him being too fucked up to remember half his nights.

(Plus he was a big fish in a super niche scene. He's used to some notoriety!)

"No problem," he smiles, warm and friendly. "And I know, right? It's like, people can be so sneaky with it! You think you're safe, then bam! You see chunks of bacon in your soup, or your mac 'n cheese, or-- fuck, anything, you know? I even saw it on cupcakes once."

Oh Jeff, you sweet 90s child. You have no idea how big the bacon craze is going to get.

"Luckily, the Oak and Iron-- that's where you're staying, right? I mean, if you just got here. Anyway, they've got some good options. There's this lentil mushroom pasta I pretty much lived on for, like, my first two weeks here."

[astrogator]

Tayrey's eyes go wide. 'Bacon? Bits of pig... in a cake?' Yes, she's baffled. Not quite as disturbed as she'll be when she hears about animal fat in totally unrelated food products, later, but for now she's absolutely confused by this. 'It's not considered food at all where I'm from. I'm not used to having to be so wary!'

Not that lab-grown protein blocks are the most appetising thing in the world, but they're not terrible with the right source.

She looks over at him. 'I stayed at the Oak and Iron last night, but I'm going to find alternate accommodation as soon as I'm able. It's too crowded for my liking.'

Too crowded? From the spacer who lived with over two hundred others and had only a little cupboard of a cabin to call her own? Yes. It's all about the company. She does not want to bump into the wrong person when she's having her first coffee. Or taking a shower.

'But I also never cooked anything more complicated than heating up a ration pack, so if you've got restaurant recommendations, I'd love to hear them.'

[cacophonish]

"Yeah! It's fucked, right? I mean, luckily I haven't seen that kind of thing here, but..." You never know.

The notion that the Oak and Iron is too crowded doesn't strike Jeff as unusual, though being from a highly populous city, it definitely feels the opposite to him. The fact that it is the most crowded place in town is his favorite thing about it.

"Dude, me neither. I mean, I wasn't eating rations back home, but I never made anything more complicated than, like, spaghetti. Oh! But there's this spot, on the same block as Empty Pockets, and they sell tarts and pies, like, the savory kind? Most of it doesn't have meat, and sometimes they've got soups and fresh baked bread, and oh man, it's so good..."

Fuck, now he's thinking about veggie tarts.

"Anyway, they're pretty much giving houses away, so--" Jeff grimaces a little as he says it, realizing that the reason they've got so many houses to give away is pretty fucking grim. "Um. It shouldn't take you any time at all! I guess it just depends on the kind of work you do, you know?"

[astrogator]

Tayrey nods eagerly. 'I heard that. Company housing if you take the right job. I'm sure I'll find something soon enough; I'm not fussy.' She goes on to explain: 'I'm doing casual construction work for now, but that's only because I needed a job immediately and they needed unskilled labor immediately. I'm not bad at lifting heavy things. I'm better at flying starships, but I hear there's not much call for that here,' she jokes. 'Or anything else I trained for shipside. I'll figure it out.'

She certainly doesn't want to make him feel responsible for figuring it out for her, so she adds, quickly, 'And then I can try everything in that store you mentioned! Everything without bacon in it, anyway. It sounds like a good place to stop by for a hot post-shift meal.'

After a moment's pause, curiosity gets the better of her. 'What are you doing for work here?' she asks.

[cacophonish]

Jeff laughs, trying to picture spaceships in a place like this. Maybe one day there will be a thriving zeppelin industry, but even that is probably a far cry from what she's used to.

"Hey, maybe you could pilot one of the waterships here!" he teases, before pausing, reflecting on his word choice. There's already a word for ships of the sea, Jeff. "I mean. Boats."

Anyway!

"And, oh, I just kind of-- I was doing little things here and there for a while. I busk sometimes, and I was helping the candy maker as, like, an apprentice? Only I wasn't any good." He tried his best, mostly, but Jeff wasn't cut out for it. "Now I'm working for Deir-- for Ms. Breugaire." Jeff looks around for the tiefling woman in the crowd, then points her out. "She's in charge of the marina. I, ah... I'm her maid?"