awooooo

[actuallyawolf]

Who: Ylva and assorted CR

What: She's decided to have a small party -- a bonfire -- of her very own before it gets too cold to cook outside.

When: Nebulously mid-October

Where: Elsie's clearing (so graciously donated)


Please feel free to tag me directly or to make toplevels for a mingle. New CR is welcome to crash the party or handwave coming along with someone else (she will not stand on ceremony and possibly does not know that idiom anyway).




Ylva has been thinking. On the one hand, she likes many of the things that are at parties -- food, music, friends -- but on the other, they are very noisy and a little overwhelming, and often (though not always) indoors, and maybe, just maybe, she could make herself a little party. The invitations that get slipped into people's mailboxes are printed with carefully but inexpertly formed letters:

I'm having a bonfire before it gets too cold. Elsie said we could use her clearing. Bring things to eat and cook if you want!

On the day of, the wood is gathered and piled high before being set aflame. The food set out is largely simple fare -- bread, cheese, roasted meat, some small cookies and sweets -- but it's the sort of food that fills and warms you on an autumn evening in the woods. There are even some sharpened sticks ready if someone brought sausages (the risk of hot dogs has not occurred to her). It's a camping sort of evening.

Ylva is almost shy, hostess or not, and looks almost startled when someone addresses her, as though this were not a completely normal thing to do. She does try to mingle, though, and is easily flagged down for a conversation.

Comments

OTA | cw: animal death (hunting)

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Leon debates what to bring along with him for some time after noticing the letter in his mailbox. On the one hand, Ylva's a wolf and will probably always appreciate meat, but on the other, how many other people are gonna have that same thought? It'd be good to get some variety going, but back on the first hand he's not sure how well he'd do at cooking anything other than meat over a bonfire.

Back and forth he goes until he's pretty sure he's overthought it long enough and heads out the morning before the bonfire to see what he can catch, with the intent to give up and buy some gourds (if you can roast them in an oven you can roast them over a fire, right?) if he can't find anything. Perhaps fortunately, he's presented with a pair of pheasants and a clean shot at each early on in the outing, and turns up to the party some hours later having plucked and cleaned them with a little help from one of the local butchers.

"Hey," he says, waving Ylva down and holding up the birds for inspection. "Hope this is enough to share. And thanks for inviting me, it's good to see you again."

After that, he'll set about skewering his catch on some of the pointed sticks and doing his level best to keep them from burning before they're cooked through. He is, sadly, a city boy at heart though, and a solid C- Home Economics student, so he may... need some help with that.

OTA

[maltesefalcon]

Cerrit shows up to the bonfire in the same attire he's been wearing out in the woods lately: none at all. He's just beak and talons and wings and feathers, looking more like a wild animal than he ever does in town. He's brought meat, unsurprisingly, in the form of a pair of geese from Crane Ridge.

Whether or not they'll end up cooked is firmly someone else's problem.

[actuallyawolf]

She flashes him a smile (if a sort of nervous one) and turns her attention to the pheasants.

"I'm really glad you came. I mean, I don't know if you want to be here or where you were before, but I'm happy to see you." Ylva waves her hands, gesturing vaguely. "These look great. Where did you catch them? Will you tell me?"

[actuallyawolf]

This is not someone she'd thought would come, but she's not unhappy to see him, either. Fortunately, she would rather die than enforce a dress code.

After a little bit of rehearsing, she approaches -- sideways, like a cautious animal. "Um. Hi." Ylva clears her throat. "I hope you're here as a guest and not an enforcer."

Re: OTA

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth doesn't know Ylva and isn't in the habit of crashing parties. When sane, he wouldn't dream of it, actually. But he's just out for a walk and sees the gathering, and then Zack the Umbreon starts hurrying over when he smells food, so Sephiroth has to quickly chase after him.

"Hello," he smiles awkwardly at Cerrit as he tries to collar his excited Pokemon. "I'm sorry about this." Zack is jumping up and down excitedly and Sephiroth has to hold on to him with both arms. He's fully clothed now, save for his shirt being unbuttoned, and his hair is silver and hanging down rather than white and in the air, and his eyes are no longer glowing and pupil-less. But the voice is the same as the man from the woods, if Cerrit is good with voices.

[maltesefalcon]

“I tend to wear clothes when acting as an enforcer.” That’s said with wry humor, but it’s also been a rule he’s stuck to. When he’s allowing himself the freedom to be a little more feral, he doesn’t engage ‘work mode’.

“I brought geese. Might see if someone brought drinks, later.”

[maltesefalcon]

Cerrit is very perceptive. He tilts his head to one side as he recognizes that voice, the feathers along his crest lifting slightly.

“Not sure there’s anything to be sorry for. The creatures seem like they have a mind of their own. Poor Degas at the temple has been corralling two who are bigger than him.”

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth chuckles. "They certainly do." He wonders how Degas is managing. "But I don't want to interrupt your ... gathering." He's not sure what he's interrupting. A party among friends, perhaps? "We'll leave."

Zack yips, struggling to get out of Sephiroth's arms, but he holds on firmly and tries to pet the animal at the same time to calm him down.

[maltesefalcon]

“Not my gathering. I think Ylva over there organized this.” He points out the redhead helpfully. “She’s more at home here in the woods than in town. You knight run into her again, if you spend time out here.”

…especially in that wingy dangerous form. Cerrit is trying to ensure introductions get made to avoid future trouble.

[imjustaman]

"Oh, I see," Sephiroth muses, frowning a bit. "Isn't it dangerous to be here?"

[maltesefalcon]

“Fire will keep away the normal animals. And if there’s bigger threats, there’s a few capable fighters here. Leon over there is another Enforcer. Ylva’s a caster, but a scrappy one. And you’re no slouch, yourself.”

Well, that’s a slightly more direct callout.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth smirks a bit. "Yes, but we're not here all the time." Not confirming, not denying. "I was under the impression you meant she lives out here."

[maltesefalcon]

"When she feels like it. She's not helpless." Cerrit looks over at Ylva. "I doubt I could make her live in the village. And trying would cause unnecessary friction. But she's got friends who'll come help her in an instant if she needs it."

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth nods. “If this is where she is happiest, I will do my best to help ensure it stays safe. My name is Sephiroth, by the way.”

[actuallyawolf]

She snickers, and relaxes somewhat. It is true that clothing does make things a lot more formal.

"There's drinks now," Ylva says. "If you wanted."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Leon shrugs at the not-quite-question of where he'd rather be, saying, "I've got responsibilities back home, but I'm happy to help out around here however I can. The company here's just an added bonus."

And he doesn't quite have the guts to wink with that comment, but it's a near thing. He thinks about trying it and chickens right the hell out. He does mean it, though. People here are nice.

"And of course. Caught 'em a couple minutes' walk north of where you taught me to hunt in the first place. Seemed like there might've been more around, too, but I didn't want to get greedy."

[maltesefalcon]

"Are there drinking vessels suited to beaks? Cups are bullshit."

Birds do not do the sippy.

[maltesefalcon]

"Cerrit Agrupnin." No harm in introducing himself again, even if he's certain Sephiroth has already met him.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth nods pleasantly in acknowledgment. "And this is Zack," he says, indicating the excited Umbreon. Zack has calmed down a little, but is still wagging his tail.

[maltesefalcon]

"Many people have found companions like him."

He gives the Umbreon a thoughtful look.

"They're very friendly."

[actuallyawolf]

"Oh!"

Was that a flirt? Ylva is considerably better at recognising flirting than she once was, having dated two separate people now, but also she's still not great at it. Maybe he's just friendly?

Still, it is really nice to have the lesson she gave him credited, and that's enough to have her blushing, and a little flustered.

"I mean, good. Thanks. I'm glad that I helped."

[actuallyawolf]

Ylva squints thoughtfully. She has, at least, had a beak in passing, so she has some context about what's needed.

"I think I can find a bowl. About this big?" She mimes the size with her hands.

[imjustaman]

"In this case, it was more that he found me," Sephiroth remarks.

And he smirks a bit. "Yes. You see why I can't take him with me on ... excursions."

Mostly admitting. He doesn't want the entire gathering to know, but maybe no one else will hear.

[maltesefalcon]

"Yes, perfect. With hard cider if there's any about." There's an orchard in town; someone ought to be pressing cider.

[maltesefalcon]

"I see. Though I've heard some of them can be trained to fight. I wouldn't know, I haven't befriended any."