[closed] it's not a nutritional dinner

[kokuyoyo]

Who: Chikusa, Ken, and all the people invited to Hakkai's temple
When: October 12
Where: Li Tieugai's temple in the Central District
What: Having recently lost their other god, Ken is sad by yet another loss.... so Chikusa is fixing this with his dog's favorite things: people he likes and copious amounts of meat.

Unless people actually ask, Chikusa.... doesn't exactly tell what time the dinner is actually going to be at. At least he'll probably tell them that Hakkai's temple moved? One would hope.

The temple of Iron Crutch Li doesn't really seem all that impressive upon approaching it, despite being in the Central District. The walled gardens are certainly large and lovely enough, if a little wild, but the building itself is rather plain at its two stories. There's a small sign attached to the front door that simply says 'come in'. Chikusa isn't going to bother answering the door for visitors. It's not like Hakkai locks that thing anyway.

The inside of the temple is about as sparsely decorated as its outside, but, today, the overwhelming smell wafting from the kitchen has overtaken any medicinal smells that might normally be about. It adds a certain warmth to the room.

Until dinner will be served a little later into the night, people are free to do whatever- hang about the gardens, go bother Chikusa in the kitchen, or otherwise find the other residents of the temple. Chikusa won't care to stop anyone, although Hakkai might.

As for dinner? Chikusa is serving so much meat: rabbit stew with olives and rosemary, swordfish, curried chicken, veal marsala, and a more traditional spaghetti served with meatballs. Fortunately, at least there's garlic bread and stuffed mushrooms, so there's something that isn't meat.... And for dessert? Zeppole, cannoli, and an apple ciambella with almond cream.

Comments

The guest of honor

[junkyarddog]

A) Before Dinner

[Anyone who knows Ken - which is pretty much everyone attending the dinner - will be able to observe that the usually loud and rambunctious boy is distinctly subdued. His usual energy seems to be absent; in fact, the way he's slouching around, he seems more like Chikusa than himself. (Perhaps Chikusa has stolen all his energy to be able to make tonight's feast.) He can be found either in the kitchen, or in the room where Hakkai is grading papers; he seems to drift back and forth between the two rooms, unusually non-disruptive, simply following their movements - his partner's and his god's - with his eyes.

Roy's loss has hit him hard. The fear of losing his other god, and of losing his partner, is that much stronger right now. And no one he's cared about has ever disappeared while he's looking right at them, so maybe if he watches them enough, they won't vanish.

Still, since he's minding his own business, there's plenty of opportunity to talk to him. And you may want to do it now, because...]


B) At Dinner

[...Ken at a table full of meat and sweets is possible to approach, but most people probably wouldn't attempt it. You might lose a hand.

Ken may be grieving, but he doesn't see any reason for that to affect his appetite. Or perhaps he's actively using the food to distract himself from it. Either way, Chikusa's energy output isn't going to waste, so Chikusa can at least feel gratified about that.

Ken's also leaning against the chef, who looks like he might just slither out of his chair to puddle on the floor without Ken propping him up.

In any case, Ken can be talked to during this time, if you don't mind his mouth being almost perpetually full.]

A!

[welcome_home]

[ When Ken had texted her, Nanako had of course agreed. And had made a quick trip to the Near Shore before arriving tonight. Once she's inside and greeted the others, she comes looking for Ken, a paper bag clutched in her arms as she pokes her head into the room, looking for him. ]

Ken?

[junkyarddog]

[Ken's crouched in a chair not far from Hakkai, not so much sitting as perched, chin almost resting on his knees. But his head comes up slightly when he hears Nanako's voice, looking over.] Nanako? [He's genuinely surprised; he hadn't expected to see Nanako in Hakkai's temple.

Ken's not sure quite what categories Hakkai and Nanako could be said to fall into, but if they were on any sort of sliding scale, he feels like they'd be on the extreme opposite ends from each other.]

[welcome_home]

[ She smiles at him when he looks up, stepping into the room and lifting a hand in a little wave. ]

Hi, Ken. How are you?

[ Well. He's probably not wrong? ]

[junkyarddog]

[Ken's head sinks down again.] ...Roy-sama disappeared. [To Ken, this isn't a non sequitur - it's a direct answer to Nanako's question.]

a

[artificialrose]

[It's more than a little awkward to arrive here, knowing how Komaeda and Hakkai's interaction had gone... but it had seemed rude to refuse, and, from what he'd been able to get out from this Chikusa, this was all for Ken. So he's here, a small plastic bag in hand, and goes to find the 'guest of honor' himself.]

[Of course... He's not expecting him to look so morose as he passes from the kitchen to the front room, and Garry pauses.]

Ken? Are you alright?

[junkyarddog]

[Ken glances over at Garry when he speaks up, focus on Chikusa momentarily broken. But almost immediately - with an abruptness that seems almost like a flicker of panic - Ken's eyes go back to Chikusa.

Still, he's not ignoring Garry so much as not looking at him, because he does answer his question.] ...Roy-sama is gone.

[artificialrose]

[....Oh.]

[Immediately, Garry slides his hand over, bumping it into Ken's. It's not something that will require him to take his eyes off of Chikusa, hopefully.]

I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?

[junkyarddog]

Talk about it how? I dunno what to say. [Ken's gaze only momentarily flickers. He hadn't really expected Garry to touch his hand.]

A

[nibelungvalesti]

You look troubled.

[The Valkyrie doesn't speak with her usual harshness or cold imperiousness. She isn't even in her armor, which ought to be a warning or alarm to all concerned. But this isn't about her, especially not when someone looks so upset at a party.]

[junkyarddog]

[Oh...the sight and sound of her, being so different, gets Ken's head lifting as he blinks at her in surprise. But it's impossible to think of a way to respond to her without thinking of what has him upset in the first place, so he sags again after a moment.]

Roy-sama is gone.

[nibelungvalesti]

I see. I am sorry for your loss.

[She genuinely sounds sorry, too.]

[The Valkyrie bows her head slightly, one hand lifted to her chest, before she looks up to meet his eyes with hers, brilliant and clear.]

Human life... is passing. While you live, everyone who comes into your life will leave it some time. It is right to grieve that, but do not let your grief forever cloud the happiness that knowing them brought you.

[junkyarddog]

I don't think he's dead... [Ken frowns. Lenneth probably isn't being quite as literal as Ken is interpreting her, but Ken's a simple dog.] But they took him away.

A

[moonlitknight]

[ From behind: ]

You're moping.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken half turns his head to glance at Zero over his shoulder.] They took Roy-sama.

[moonlitknight]

[ No response. He doesn't know who that is. ]

Who's they?

[junkyarddog]

Whoever makes gods disappear here. They took Roy-sama away, just like they took Axel-sama.

But...Roy-sama took better care of me than Axel-sama did...

Before Dinner

[purr_ince]

[Marinette had pointed this person out to him as Ken. The blond stayed at Marinette's side until she seemed happily engaged in conversation. That meant he'd been watching Ken and Adrien had tilted his head before understanding seemed to dawn on him. He's crossing the room to Ken determined steps. This is something he's noticed in himself - this odd Hypervigilance.]

You're afraid.

[Adrien's words are a soft statement as he watches Ken with bright green eyes.]

It will be fine. You can protect them, you know. You don't need to be afraid. [He pauses for a span of a heartbeat, his gaze flickering back toward where Marinette is then snapping back to Ken.] And even if you can't protect them from absolutely everything, I don't think they would blame you.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken jolts a little as his head snaps over to look at Adrien, sizing him up warily.] Who're you? [For a moment, that there's a stranger here takes precedence over what's actually being said to him, and his brain only belatedly processes Adrien's actual words.

But, a moment later, process them it does, and he blinks. Then he frowns.] I can't protect 'em from everything, byon. [He looks back to Chikusa; he's in the kitchen, for now. He hasn't shown too much preference one way or the other as to whether he's watching Chikusa or Hakkai, but when he does it's in Chikusa's favor. Whether this is because he's closer to Chikusa, or perhaps a bit more base in his interest in the food Chikusa is cooking, can be argued.] I can't protect 'em from disappearing. A lot of people I liked have disappeared already...and now Roy-sama is gone, too...

[purr_ince]

[Adrien holds his hands up. Is everyone here so jumpy?] I'm Adrien. My goddess, Marinette, brought me with her. Take it easy. I'm not some shady stranger here to do harm. I promise. [He gets it. He does. He'd be same way at home. Protecting his goddess and their home comes before being a good host - always.

He's watching Ken as he seems to understand what Adrien had said. Good.] No, sadly we can't. But pacing and driving yourself into the ground won't help them either. [He doesn't even want to think about where he would be if Marinette vanished so he's shoving that aside to a darker deeper corner of his mind he can ignore it in.] That's unfortunate and it.. sucks I'm sure but-

[Adrien pauses before gesturing with his hand.] If you exhaust yourself when there is no danger that you can save them from you'll be too tired when they really do need you to fight ayakashi. Do you understand what I'm saying? Endlessly prowling around like this isn't good for any of you.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken relaxes a little. He remembers Marinette, and vaguely likes her - although admittedly, he's interacted with her so little that most of his basis for fondness is still resting at 'she's a pretty girl'. But between her seeming nice, and Adrien's offer of both reassurance and explanation, he's willing to believe in Adrien's good intentions.

Also...Adrien's kind of talking sense. Appealing to a more practical aspect of not wearing himself out with paranoia is a lot easier for Ken to grasp than, say, abstract emotional concepts. He certainly seems to be paying attention, anyway...although that's not to say that he has no issues to raise with the advice.] It's not really ayakashi that take people away from me, though. It's 'cause they vanish, or lose their memories. Or both.

A!

[doodlebuginette]

[She'd seen him drifting in and out of the room while she and Adrien had been speaking with Hakkai, but she hadn't been able to do anything more than wave. And even then, she couldn't be certain that he'd seen her. So now that Hakkai had gone back to his work, she was free to say hello now.]

Hi, Ken. How are you?

[junkyarddog]

[Ken looks at Marinette with a far more listless expression than he wore the last time she saw him. If he came off as expressive and high-energy before, all of that seems to be missing today.]

One of my gods disappeared. [So, you know...not great. And awkward.]

[doodlebuginette]

I'm so sorry.

[What could she say to that? She couldn't even imagine how something like that must feel. Mostly, she wanted to hug him and tell him it was going to be okay, but honestly they'd only spoken a couple of times and she realized that not everyone was appreciative of being hugged.]

You know... The people we love don't ever really leave us. If we keep them in our hearts, then they're still with us in a way. [And that had sounded a lot less dorky in her head.]

Were you very close?

[junkyarddog]

It's not the same. I want him to be here. [Ken ducks his head, scowling at the floor. He's not actually mad so much as he's trying to repress tears, by trying to displace grief with anger.]

...he called me bright. Nobody else has ever thought I was smart. [His voice is a mutter.] He took care of me when I was sick...he fed me when he caught me stealing from him. He looked after me...he liked me.

[Roy was probably the closest thing to a good paternal figure Ken has ever had. Ken's actual father - who Ken doesn't even really remember - handed Ken over for child experimentation in an effort to turn Ken into a weapon that would save his own ass.]