( closed ) magical mushroom, show me your world

[amo]

Who: The resident plants & priest
What: Mushroom shenanigans
When: Some mid-February evening
Where: The church's living quarters.
Content Warnings: Drugs, altered states/moods

[ The discovery of mushrooms in the forest means that, of course, Vash has to bring back as many as possible and try out some new recipes incorporating them for his family (and best friend) to try. He's especially keen on what he's recognized to be chanterelles from the foraging books when he couldn't resist trying them right then and there in the forest. Maybe it's simply the elation of finally having a new ingredient to work with as his household's resident cook, but he swears just eating them as they are brings him more cheer. Naturally he's made sure to bring along extra of those. A little mood booster will do everyone good, he figures.

What it leads to is a veritable fungi feast for dinner. He's made mushroom soup, roasted mushrooms with pine nuts, a mushroom sauce to go with both fish and venison, and a cranberry mushroom salad. He might have gotten the tiniest bit carried away in his eager excitement, but cajoling Wolfwood into coming over for dinner means nothing will be wasted so it's fine. To further raise spirits, he's even broken out the very last of his hoarded alcohol in the form of wine. Sadly not enough to get drunk off of, but it's a treat that goes well with the food all the same.

It's towards the end of the meal that Vash sits back with gleaming eyes, pleased as punch, peering over the edge of his glass and drinking in the contented atmosphere that comes from well-filled bellies. ]

I'd say that was a success, no?

Comments

[lastdecember]

[ When Vash told him he was going to come and have dinner with the other plants, Wolfwood had been prepared for just about anything. He’d shown up on his very best behavior – he had his shoulder holster on over his too-tight sweater, sure, but he kept his head down and his mouth shut, and after awhile he even stopped thinking every couple of minutes about pulling the handgun free and emptying the clip into Knives’s head.

And by the time his belly started protesting the amount of food he’d stuffed inside it, he’d stopped thinking about Knives at all.

Vee is just a fascinating skittish giant of a guy, isn’t he? Wolfwood pops another cranberry into his mouth – he can’t eat another bite, but he wasn’t raised to leave anything on his plate – not even bothering to pretend that he’s not staring. ]

Your big brother’s become a hell of a chef, huh? [ He means it, too! For a meal thrown together from foraged foods and the skimpy seasonings left behind by the town’s previous residents, the dinner had been absolutely delicious! ] You’d never have guessed, seein’ some of the things he tried to pass off as meals on the road.

[skelters]

[ and vee is the last person who'd even think to criticise the amount of food that'd been cooked. for once he didn't need vash or knives pointedly urging him to help himself more ... though on hindsight, he probably shouldn't have eaten so much.

but finally, all the plates are empty - or nearly so, with a few pine nuts and cranberries scattered as leftovers. and maybe it's the feeling of being warm and full for the first time in a long while, or maybe it's the sneaky bit of alcohol that vash has pulled out for the occasion, but vee is feeling pretty good - even if he and vash have had to strategically place themselves so that wolfwood and knives are as far away from each other on the table, sitting diagonally across. it's enough for the usual skittishness to be nothing more than just quick glances occasionally shot at knives, and vee laughs - the sound easy and relaxed for once. ]

Not 'dad'? [ yeah, that's going to be a running joke, huh. ]

But that was really good - thank you, Vash.

[brutalact]

[knives had kept his silence for most of the night, quietly assisting vash throughout the dinner preparations while stoutly ignoring wolfwood's presence among them. there was nothing to say, no commentary that wouldn't have invoked both vash and vee's frustration, so he wisely says nothing. whatever he may feel like sharing he keeps to the unspoken connection between himself and vash, but even then knives takes to simply observing his brother, both his brothers, as they set the stage for a shared dinner.

it isn't so bad, even with the priest's company, the man's voice intermixed with the idle conversations that float around knives. he can't quite place how it makes him feel, but he's satisfied enough to see his brothers' at ease.

the dinner is... nice. maybe it's the wine, as slight as it is, or maybe it's the warmth radiating off of his brothers, but knives feels affected by something. enough so that he finds himself smiling behind his palm, gaze lingering over vash as he watches him bringing the glass to his lips.]

It is a definite improvement.

[his voice is softer, attention falling away as he reaches for his own glass.]

[amo]

That's only because we didn't have the funds for anything better!

[ The protest is swift, though lacks any real heat to it; nothing more than a halfhearted grumble. He's not about to start an argument when everyone's — everyone being Wolfwood and Knives — been so good about behaving and not starting any fights, verbal or otherwise. Admittedly, Wolfwood isn't wrong either. Desperate times have called for desperate measures before and it's not as if foraging and hunting were a thing on No Man's Land the way it's possible here. They had to rely on money and the double dollars for a decent meal just weren't always there. Try as he might with the cooking skills learned from Rem and the many various jobs in restaurants over the years, sometimes it just simply wasn't feasible. At least here it's more about getting creative with what nature provides them rather than not having anything to work with at all and Vash sure has been getting his practice in.

To have his efforts appreciated via empty plates that have been refilled before — even by Vee without requiring their usual badgering for him to eat more — is bound to have him lingering in his good mood for the rest of the night. As is evident by how his feigned displeasure is immediately forgotten at the sound of Vee's genuine laugh and the joke, pleased smile making its return. ]

You're welcome, son.

[ By their combined efforts, Wolfwood is never living that one down for sure.

Knives' soft voice piping up pulls his focus away and the compliment he receives makes him grin a little wider and sit up a little straighter, preening without shame. ]

I think I'm getting the hang of using so little ingredients, but hopefully all these mushrooms mean that the weather will change and more new things can grow.

[ In fact, seized by good cheer and the potential prospect of more bountiful finds, rather than taking the sip he intended, he holds out his glass for a jubilant toast. ]

To the hope we might someday see spring!

[lastdecember]

[ There wasn't any heat to the complaint about Vash's cooking, either! Even when he's feeling good and relaxed -- and content, that's what this feeling is, he's content for once! -- Wolfwood's just a negative person, sorry. He complains, he picks, he teases... but if the warm smile he directs Vash's way is any indication, he doesn't mean a word of it.

He raises his glass, with just a swig of wine left at the bottom. Cheers! ]

Never thought I'd miss the heat.

[ He almost said sun instead of heat -- son, sun, get it? -- but that would be too terrible of a joke, even for him.

Spring on Noman's didn't really mean much, but he's read enough scripture to know that, at least on Earth, it was the time that things came into their season. If that means more food, like these delicious mushrooms, then that's incredible news!

With enough to eat this place could be a real paradise, he thinks, turning that delighted grin from Vash to Vee. He's got his friend, and a taller, gentler version of his friend, who clearly just needs some encouragement to come out of his shell. ]

To second chances.

[skelters]

[ the idea of spring is something that is just as strange for vee as the perpetual winter they've been experiencing here ... but really, anything would be better than constantly having a part of your body feeling frozen and numb, right? at least the days are getting slightly lighter and longer than before, but vee often finds himself missing the bright glaring sunlight, and even the hot wind of the arid endless desert.

he feels plenty warm now like this, though ... enough that he can return the grin with a bright, matching one of his own from one to the other of their group, and vee leans forward from where he was against the back of his chair to raise his (nearly empty) cup. ]

Hear, hear!