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

[maximumcake]

"I get it." Max's eyes soften with sympathy. "I'm better now, but I used to live almost exclusively inside one house with only two other people so... getting out in crowds was hard for me at first, too. But you're here and that already means a lot."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart nods, reaching for one of the other dishes and spooning some heavy-looking bread stuffing onto his plate. He still doesn't necessarily have the stomach for a lot of meat.

"Before this, I lived for so long with only my father and this woman that he hired to protect us. Before that, he didn't like us associating with anyone in a lower tax bracket from him." There is a distinct bitterness to the way he says that. "So this has been...different, to say the least."

[maximumcake]

"That sounds suffocating," Max doesn't have to stretch his imagination far to know what that probably felt like. Erik never let him go anywhere alone. He wasn't even allowed to drive or grocery shop on his own.

"You probably feel really out of place here, like you don't know what you're supposed to do. People in higher tax brackets don't really do a lot of picnic potlucks, do they? Not like this. If you need a wingman to help you navigate it, I don't mind helping."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart nods, looking all the smaller for the assessment.

"It was either business luncheons, dinner meetings to peddle me and what he paid for, or being alone with computer classes. This place, though...I have people that look at me and see...just some person. I'm not his name anymore. I'm mine.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all of this," he murmurs, hastily putting the serving spoon down again and reaching for a cup instead to fill with whatever there was on offer that wasn't alcoholic.

[maximumcake]

Max nods and there is a deep, deep understanding behind those soft brown eyes. He half reaches a hand out to Bart, but doesn't touch.

"Maybe you can feel that I know what you're talking about. Because I do. If you want to hear about it I'll tell you somewhere private but, I get it. I get what it feels like to not really belong to yourself and then one day you just... do. People think it's easy. Like, you're free now so just be happy and make your own choices but it's... scary. Because you have no idea what you're doing and now you have to figure it all out on your own."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart's eyes track the hand as it comes toward him, then fall again when Max thinks better of it. It's better that way; if he did make contact, Bart isn't sure he wouldn't just break down again on the spot.

Instead he scans the table once more and reaches for something looks like an attempt at a pickled garnish, like one of the women with her home canning operation really wanted to try and do something fancy with her stock.

"I thought I was learning how to do that a little at a time here, but it seems like every time I turn around, something terrible has happened. I'm..." He trails off before he can finish that thought: I'm afraid of everything except the wildlife now. Instead he continues, "I don't want to take you away from anything more important. You're new, so you must have come with the ferryman's last group. You're almost certainly going to need time to recuperate. Before anyone starts asking anything of you."

[maximumcake]

"You'd think that, but there's a reason I'm over here behind the table even though I'm new. I'm a doer. I can't stand being idle. I like helping people, it helps me too. So, we'd be doing each other a favor believe it or not."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart bites briefly on the inside of his lip, considering. It makes him look that little bit more pouty.

"Perhaps when you aren't busy here. It's...hard, to talk to some people here."

[maximumcake]

Max is trying so hard not to notice how cute a pout looks on Bart. Don't make it weird, Max, come on.

"Sure. I'm not really on the clock. I just volunteered on my own, so I'm done being busy whenever. Who are you looking to talk to?"

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart may be a bit dense about people looking at him that way anyway, having no experience with it in the first place. Max is safe from scrutiny (for now.)

"You're doing what you enjoy to help other people," he concludes, and he softens further around the edges. Of course, it's short-lived when Max asks that, and he shakes his head. "I... it's complicated. If we talk, could it perhaps be somewhere quiet?"

[maximumcake]

"That's exactly it." Max answers brightly. It's nice to have that understood without constant questioning.

He comes around from behind the table and motions for Bart to walk with him. "Sure. Let's get a little air, huh?"

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart steps back and waits for Max to walk, before following along at his side. He's not a particularly short man, average at best, but next to Max he feels utterly dwarfed. His hands lace together and fidget, eyes down in front of him as he tries to put words to his thoughts.

"Thank you. Have you been to the beach yet? I know it's been cold out, but it's still nice to sit and watch the waves. Soothing."

[maximumcake]

"I've been a few times to check it out. You're right, it's really nice. It reminds me of the lake I used to live next to. I'd go down to think by the dock because the way the wood creaked slightly in the currents was soothing, too."

Max starts walking them in that direction now. It's a pretty day so the wind probably won't even be that cold.

"Did you live by the water where you came from?"

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart is happy to fall into step beside him on their way down to the waterfront.

"Actually, prior to where I was before I ended up here, I hadn't seen the ocean in a very long time and never had time to get particular attached to it. It was only within the last couple of years that I really gained an appreciation for it. There isn't much opportunity to take it in when you're on an interplanetary transport vessel bound for a colony ship."

[maximumcake]

"Wait, you lived on a spaceship?" Max's eyes go wide with wonder. "Wow, that's incredible. What was it like? The closest thing I ever experienced to that was being on a really weird fake cruise ship."

[theresalwaystheview]

"A couple of different vessels, yes. The first ship was larger, it housed a lot of us when we were preparing to make the move into other ships. I got a lot of my education offworld actually. It was easy to forget we weren't still at home, until we had to eat things from the fabricators rather than anything that was made in the kitchens. When I and a couple of classmates were slated for the Degasi under father's orders, it almost solely became purely reconstituted, nutritionally complete, utterly boring fare. Everything was clean and sterile, sleek, rounded about the edges, beds only just comfortable enough to get enough sleep to function on, clean white lights and not a trace of dirt to be seen. Even the growbeds were hydroponic and supported root latticework with foam blocks, all in vertical stacks. Lettuce a storey high. It was a technique for food production pioneered in Shandong in...I want to say around 2017?"

[maximumcake]

"Fabricated food sounds awful." Max is glad it didn't come to that on the cruise ship. He probably would have had a breakdown about it.

"I mean, the efficient way to grow food sounds really cool, and I wouldn't mind seeing some of that here but the rest sounds like living in a prison. No wonder you're having a hard time adjusting."

[theresalwaystheview]

"The infrastructure here wouldn't be able to support it or I might like to try and start on a facility that would allow large-scale production of staple crops. Something that would take the workload off of our farmers." Bart has clearly put a lot of consideration into this sort of thing, and ended up frustrated by the lack of resource to let him even start such projects.

"I'll learn sooner or later how to get by. I like to think I've done alright so far." His tone makes it clear that he thinks otherwise.

[maximumcake]

"I bet you could still help them in smaller-scale ways. Hey, if you can figure out an efficient way for me to make larger quantities of powdered sugar without having to grind it every day forever, I'd pay you for that." He's not even joking.

"You look like you're doing all right to me. You might not be the star of the party, but you showed up and you made a new friend, didn't you?" Max nudges him lightly on the shoulder. "That's me, by the way."

[theresalwaystheview]

"Something to facilitate automatic grinding perhaps, or a simple hand machine that will convert less effort into more product," Bart muses, trying to remember enough of the food production side of his degree to nail something down. "I can get back to you with a plan and see what you might prefer. There is electricity available here, so that will make it a bit easier, it's just a matter of getting the parts together to try and put it together. I may need to outsource the labor to put it together, but I'm sure that it will be done it if means that you'll be able to provide something the village will enjoy." He actually looks more animated as he thinks all of this over, especially considering that it meshes his own skillset with the opportunity to expand what he knows how to do, with the promise of helping someone else.

He looks back at Max at the reassurance, and not for the first time he's rather blindsided by the up-front, earnest statement that he's made a friend. He colors faintly around the ears and looks back down the road instead. "I'd much rather be a background player anyway. I certainly wasn't built for being the center of attention."

[maximumcake]

Max props his chin on his hands a listens with a contented smile on his face as Bart goes on about his potential plans. Isn't it wonderful to see people talk about their passions? He can't wait to see what they come up with together.

"You know that's a good thing, right?" Max answers just as earnestly. "We need support people just as much as we need the center stage people. You're obviously a really capable guy. I think you have a lot to offer even from the background or maybe especially from the background."

[theresalwaystheview]

Get him talking about wildlife and he'll absolutely talk Max's ear off. Especially about observations that he'd made on previous worlds, in the forests here, or even out in Paradesium.

Bart's posture softens, shoulders going slack, expression a combination of embarrassment and pleasure at the earnest praise. His hands twist together, long fingers lightly calloused with the lab work that he does near constantly when he's not forcing himself to be social. "When I got here, I vowed to myself that I would put everything I knew to good use, to help the people around me with no mind toward ever asking for any kind of profit in return. I gain enough simply by being able to do the work that I care about. I want to be able to improve others' lives here however I can, whether it be by the antibiotics I've been synthesizing from the efforts made by the doctors and farmers before me, or making batteries for radios and food processors for kitchens. You will keep me abreast of whatever you might need, won't you? Even if it's just a checkup at the clinic that I assist at."

[maximumcake]

"I think that's a really noble cause. So many people will be grateful to have your help. I know baking isn't as grand as making antibiotics, but I feel the same way about it. All I want is to open up a cafe here so I can feed people good things that might brighten their day.

"Baking is a kind of chemistry. I might just have some requests for you to help me perfect my craft." And while he knows Bart won't want anything in return, Max's conscience can't let kindness go unanswered so... "I know how workaholics like us can get pretty wrapped up in the work, so you can expect me to drop by with some bread or other snacks to make sure you're staying fed. And maybe you can give me a checkup some time, too. It's actually been a while."

[theresalwaystheview]

"'Not as grand'? Feeding people is just as important, if not more so. How are their bodies to fight off the things that antibiotics assist in killing if they don't have something good in their bellies? Add to that that baked goods have a terrific effect on morale, and that a positive outlook does statistically show at least a small impact on a person's wellbeing. I really honestly think that you will do just as much good here as I try to, if not more. It helps that you seem very likeable, which is more than I can confidently say for myself."

The offer to come by with little snacks from time to time is met with a sweet smile, and he nods, though he does have to add, "after so much of my life was spent on those foodstuffs designed for space travel, I'm afraid that I'm having to limit my intake of certain things. I'm afraid that I've always been lactose intolerant, and glutenous foods need to be rather few and far between. But I'm sure you would be able to come up with something!" Can't crush the man's dreams, after all.

[maximumcake]

"I really can't argue against that. I um. I know exactly how bad not eating can be for a body." He worries his bottom lip between his teeth while he forces those memories away.

"But I don't think you should count yourself out like that. I don't see any reason why you'd be seen as any less likable than I am. Being a little shy isn't a crime." And Bart is being really, really cute right now letting his passion show so Max can't imagine anyone thinking he's unlikable once they get him talking.

"Understood. Lucky for you, I do know low-sugar recipes, too. And I happen to know where I can get a huge supply of sweet potatoes. I got you covered."