[OPEN, Mingle] Yamsgiving

[lasthumanvoice]

Who: Cecil and EVERYONE
What: Another Harvest Celebration
When: Beginning of Pumpkinfest
Where: Center of town
Warning(s): Discussion of the Gala and its attendant CWs may come up

1. Yes, we're happy as fish [Food Prep, Oak and Iron kitchen]
Cecil's made a point of seeking out the best known chefs in town to help him put everything together for this meal. While sweet potato dishes are the star, at least one available with every course, he's hoping to hit a broad variety so everyone can find something they like. He, of course, is peeling and chopping his eternal sweet potato to make sure there's enough to go around.

(Of course you don't need to worry about him with a knife! He's fine! Don't you know he was once a boy scout?)

If someone needs an extra hand for their dishes, though, he's happy to lend one. There's an attitude of camaraderie and cheer in the room, with Cecil even breaking out singing at one or two points in the evening.


2. And gorgeous as geese [The Meal; Festival Green]
Everyone's invited to the feast. That is, in fact, the whole point. Cecil's always been pointedly neutral in the town's tensions, working as the most unbiased media monkey he can. He's the Voice of Pumpkin Hollow, and that means not taking sides between Dahlia and Neil and the Temple and whoever else. But after the gala, he's made a choice to act, to try to foster goodwill and warm feelings. This isn't the stone stew he offered during January's famine, this is a Redwall-style feast.

So, between glasses of mead from Kasprak Farm and dandelion wine, everyone is invited to fill their plate with candied yams and zucchini bread, roast chicken and venison donated by one of the Enforcers. There's a homemade cranberry sauce with citrus wedges and dandelion-leaf salad with an apple cider vinaigrette and toasted acorns for garnish. There's pasta with a homemade pesto sauce and cheese. Desserts, too, are plentiful, some even flavored with...chocolate. But many are not, and feature sweet potatoes. Muffins, pies, etc.

Find a table with a friend or a stranger, and indulge. This is a warm-fuzzy type thing--feel free to use it as a mingle.


3. And wonderfully clean in the morning [Cleanup; Also Festival Green]
Cecil is, quite honestly, expecting to be the only person to stay and clean up. He's been up since about five in the morning and he's dragging a bit at this point. Oh, he did take the time to eat, so he's not starving, but like. He could use help putting the Green back to rights.


4. We've got everything, we're growing everything [Cecil Wildcards]
[You know how to find me to plot.]

Comments

Sephiroth | OTA

[imjustaman]

The Meal

Sephiroth wasn't even at the gala, but he's more than fed-up with all the animosity he's encountered since then as people talk about what happened there. Being a cynical sort, he's not sure everyone will be willing to gather for a peaceful meal. But he hopes for the best and shows up to support Cecil's efforts. He settles in to eat and listen to the conversations, not really planning to join in. He's often seen as an aloof sort, but he will smile in a fairly congenial way if someone looks to him or wants to sit by him. If someone wants to start talking with him, he'll oblige. Zack the Umbreon, sitting by his chair, wags his tail and greets everyone.

Clean-Up

Sephiroth lingers at the end to help with the clean-up. He moves quietly, gathering plates and silverware and glasses. He isn't the type to start conversations, but he definitely finds a moment to thank Cecil for all of his hard work putting this together. And again, he's willing to talk to you if you seek him out.

Clean-up

[lasthumanvoice]

"Oh, wait, you're like new, aren't you?" Cecil isn't going to let Sephiroth escape without at least a little conversation. "What's your name, what's your favorite color, when's your birthday?"

Re: Clean-up

[imjustaman]

Well, that is interesting. The rapid-fire questioning reminds him a little of Zack.

“My name is Sephiroth, my favorite color is black, and my birthday is January 31st,” he replies in a bit of amusement.

[lasthumanvoice]

"Another Aquarius! Excellent, we could always use more of us! I'm Cecil, and this whole Yamsgiving was my work. I'm glad you came!"

The enthusiasm remains bright enough to blind.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth is further amused. It would be interesting if Zack shows up sometime and meets this person.

“All of your work has been very impressive,” Sephiroth says. “The food was delicious.”

[lasthumanvoice]

"Good, I'm glad. The goal was to celebrate the sweet potato, and I think I achieved that. Both with the feast in general and with the menu in specific."

As he's saying this, he pulls a full sweet potato out of a pocket. As you do.

[imjustaman]

"Yes, I would say you did," Sephiroth replies.

He is a bit startled by the whole sweet potato coming out. That is a big pocket.

"Do you grow them?"

[lasthumanvoice]

"Nope. This one was a boon from one of the local goddesses during a famine. It's infinite!"

It appears completely normal, as far as sweet potatoes go.

[imjustaman]

"... When was this famine?" Sephiroth wonders. "And what do you mean by infinite? It never spoils? Or you eat it and it comes back?"

Genesis would certainly be fascinated by a gift from a goddess.

[lasthumanvoice]

"Last winter. The harvest had not been able to stretch to cover us newcomers adequately. And closer to the latter, of those two options."

[imjustaman]

"It must have been a treacherous time, at least until the sweet potato arrived," Sephiroth remarks. "That's intriguing. Do your deities often grant such gifts in times of trouble?"

[lasthumanvoice]

"The local goddesses. Not 'my gods'."

There's complicated feelings there. Cecil is Jewish, but he has his own feelings about the Four Mothers.

[imjustaman]

Well, Sephiroth had meant "your" more in the general sense of "the island's," but he's up for this discussion.

"I see. Would I be wrong in assuming that your God is back in your world?"

He has complicated feelings about gods in general, not the least of which is both because Gaia to him seemed a godless planet and because he himself had tried to fill that void.

[lasthumanvoice]

"I don't know if you'd be wrong or not, but mine are a people who carry their religion on their backs, whether the Temple is present or not, or our God either."

He's much more amused than offended.

[imjustaman]

"I see," Sephiroth says. "That's useful when coming to another world that likely has no prior knowledge of your religion. Although given the nature of this place, I suppose you don't have religious texts or other sacred objects on hand?"

He wishes there was a way he could get his sword back from home. But at least he's commissioned one very similar. He doubts one would be able to commission something like a religious text unless they've memorized the whole thing by heart and could write it out and then take it to a print shop.

[lasthumanvoice]

"I don't have any personally, but others of my community have. Of course, it takes dealing with the Shady Merchant, and I don't recommend that to sane men. Shun the Shady Merchant and his shady wares." Cecil still hasn't forgiven Calloway for his choices regarding a personal item of his.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth hasn't heard about this, and he perks up in interest even though he really doesn't plan to shop from someone brazen enough to actually call himself The Shady Merchant.

"What's so shady about him?" he wonders. "Does he charge exorbitant prices?" Or very uncomfortable, unusual prices?

[lasthumanvoice]

"He doesn't care whether he's selling to an object's rightful owner. Sometimes he'll refuse to sell something to who it belongs to, just to cause chaos."

He's speaking from experience.

[imjustaman]

"How inane," Sephiroth frowns. "He doesn't really care about money then."

[lasthumanvoice]

"I'm not entirely sure what he cares about. I don't trust him at all." Cecil's smile drops off his face entirely for a moment.

[imjustaman]

"I wouldn't either," Sephiroth remarks. If he was still out of his mind, he would likely challenge such a person, arrogantly believing he would triumph. But he is sane and more cautious about such an encounter when he knows next to nothing about the person.

"How does he even acquire items from home?" he wonders. He must be a powerful sorcerer.

[lasthumanvoice]

"Isn't that an interesting question, Sephiroth? Demons, abyssal entities, the Fae? None of us really know."

[imjustaman]

"How disturbing. And he isn't breaking any actual laws, I suppose, so he can't be arrested or put out of business." Some people likely wouldn't want him to be.

[lasthumanvoice]

"He won't be, it seems. If he were, he would have been already."

Cecil shakes his head. "It's a real mess, right?"

[imjustaman]

"It sounds like it." Sephiroth frowns in annoyance. He plans to join the enforcers, but it's irritating to learn he'll likely have to leave that person roaming free.

"Is there anything else like that I should be aware of here?"