[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

[doodlebuginette]

[What could she even say to that?] The people who did those things are terrible. Neither of you deserved that. Nobody deserves that...

[She's frowning now because even the things Hawkmoth liked getting up to just seemed trivial compared to that.]

Not everyone is like that. [There were bad people in the world, but there were also good people too.] I don't need a reason to like someone. I just try to treat people the way I'd want to be treated.

[If everyone behaved that way, the world might be a very different place.] Where I'm from, there's a man who uses people's bad feelings against them to get them to do things for him. He hasn't been caught yet because he's careful and he always wears a disguise, but I choose to believe that someone is going to stop him soon.

[Except she had no idea who was going to stop him if she and Adrien were stuck here.] If you ever want a change of scenery for an afternoon or something, Fortuna's temple is always open.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken's expression darkens.] It was the mafia. They experimented on us, and they were always coming after us...and they killed Kakipi.

[He doesn't remember much about the mafia that affected their lives so deeply; their connection to Chikusa was indirect, and all his memories are Chikusa-centric. But their hatred of, and activities against, the mafia were the binding force between him and Chikusa, so he at least remembers the basics of who they hated and why. Without those things, he and Chikusa would never have ended up together, or stayed together.]

[Ken looks over at the door, shifting his weight uneasily; remembering Chikusa's death has renewed his anxious need to see the other boy, to make sure he's still there, and as a result his nerves are visibly apparent. Still, he looks back at Marinette when she mentions her temple.] Is Fortuna your god? [If Marinette ever mentioned her god name - or if she even mentioned she was a god at all - Ken's blanked on it. Of course, Ken's been fairly preoccupied for various reasons during all their encounters so far.]

[doodlebuginette]

[There were so many questions. And she's pretty sure that asking pretty much any of them would be a bad idea. But really, she just can't wrap her head around how anyone could do that to someone. It just didn't make any sense.] I'd tell you I'm sorry, but honestly... I know that won't make any of it better. I'm glad the two of you are together now.

[Sometimes she has a tendency to put her foot in her mouth, or say too much, so now she's going to be careful not to do that because she doesn't want to upset him anymore than he already is.

She glances over at the same time Ken does and then turns back to him with a soft smile.] He's really lucky to have you looking out for him. [It's only after he asks about Fortuna that it occurs to her that she's never actually mentioned that she's a god. In fact, she can't even remember ever mentioning it to Chikusa either. It must have come up at some point though, right?] Sorry, sorry! I'm Fortuna. And I think I forgot to mention it before. [And now she feels just a little silly.] But yea. You can come over whenever. It's okay. Chikusa can come too.

[junkyarddog]

At least there's no mafia here. [Ken says this rather philosophically. As Marinette recognizes, the primary fact of importance is that Ken and Chikusa are with each other; as incredibly distressing and miserable as having to see him die was, being alive or dead is secondary to being together.

At the mention of Marinette's being a god, Ken blinks in faint surprise. She's not the youngest god he's ever met - that would be Nanako - but it's still weird to meet young girls who are gods. In his vague ideas of what gods should be like, he pictured something a little more...ancient and venerable.] What're you god of?

[doodlebuginette]

That's true. [Not that she knew much at all about the mafia to begin with, aside from what she'd seen on television or in movies. Either way, she's glad that they aren't here to bother Chikusa and Ken any further. The idea just didn't sit well with her. But honestly the idea of anyone needing help had her on edge to do something, so this wasn't much different than that.

She'd been here long enough that she sometimes just took it for granted that people would realize she was a god. If she thought about it though, it seemed like a silly assumption to make. Especially considering the sheer number of different people that had come here, and the fact that new people were popping up all the time. So if she's even noticed Ken's surprise at this revelation, she's not letting on as much.]

Fortuna's the Roman goddess of fortune and the embodiment of luck. [And if that sounds a little rehearsed, that's probably because it might be.] But to be honest, I'm not sure I believe in luck. I certainly don't feel very lucky. [She's blinking and giving a little shrug of her shoulders at that.] What about you?

[junkyarddog]

What about me? [Ken scratches his cheek. He thinks Marinette is asking him about his heavenly status.] I'm Hakkai-sama's shinki. He's Li Tieguai, a god of medicine and stuff. [Not...the most specific of answers, but as far as Ken knows that's pretty accurate. If there's further complexities, either Hakkai hasn't informed him or he's forgotten them.]

And I used to be Roy-sama's shinki, too...he was Epona, god of horses. But he's gone now. [The reminder hurts.]

[doodlebuginette]

[She really needed to remember to be more specific sometimes.] Oh, I meant to ask if you believe in things like luck. [Now that Ken mentioned it, she's realizing that that name actually sounds familiar. Wasn't it one of the old stories her Maman had told her when she was younger? Maybe?]

He's one of the Eight Immortals! [Because despite the point Sabine had made to expose her to a wide variety of things, sometimes she tended to focus on certain details more than others and everything else? Just kind of fell to the wayside...]

You had more than one god? [She vaguely remembered reading something about that, and something about how it was supposed to be frowned upon? Which really, she didn't understand, because wouldn't having more than one god mean that a shinki could help more? Either way, she has no real opinion either way about it.]

I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to bring it up again. [And yes, she does feel pretty guilty about it.] Hey! We should do something to take your mind off of it for a while. Not forever, but for a little bit? [That might help, right? She did want to do something to make up for her blunder.] Do you like playing games?

[junkyarddog]

Oh...I dunno about luck. [Ken scratches his cheek.] Mostly we've just had bad luck, so I guess good luck has to exist, too... [Ken's not being entirely fair here; he's had plenty of good luck, especially meeting the people he has. But he's lost a lot of them, too, and those losses hurt so badly that it's hard to consider himself as being at a net positive.

At her exclamation about Li Tieguai, he nods.] Yeah, Hakkai-sama's said something about that before. I dunno much about 'em, though. [Or at least he hasn't retained much of it.]

Yeah...some shinki only have one god. Me and Kakipi only had Axel-sama for a long time...but then he disappeared, and we were so upset that we both got blighted and needed ablutions. But gods had to name us for that. Hakkai-sama named Kakipi, and Roy-sama named me. But we both liked the gods who named us, so they named us both instead of us just going with one of them or the other.

[Ken's head comes up a little at the mention of games. Congratulations, Marinette, you've roused his interest a bit.] What kind of games?

[doodlebuginette]

I used to think luck was just something people wanted to believe in to make themselves feel better, like fate or destiny. [She shrugs at that.] But after coming here, and getting Fortuna as my assigned god? I'm not so sure. [It's just a little confusing, okay.] I'm supposed to be able to alter the probability of things, but I have no idea how it's even supposed to work... or even if it's something I should be doing. [Though she supposed it probably suits her god better than something else might have.] If I figure it out, I can try to make it so your bad luck turns good! [Because she's sure that that is what they had in mind when she got picked for this.]

I don't remember much. But my Maman used to tell me stories about them when I was little. [Where some kids got bedtime stories, she got things like myths and such.] Does he like talking about it? [What she's really trying to ask here is 'Will he get mad if I ask about it?' but that seems like it'd be a bit much.]

Oh. [She remembered all that from the handy orientation a while back. Or at least the general part about needing a god for ablutions and whatnot.] That was nice of them to name you both. [It really did seem like good luck that they'd been able to stay together then, too.] Maybe your luck is better than you think.

[And it occurs to her now that she'll probably have to rethink one of those aforementioned games. Or at least do her absolute best not to accidentally ask about non-far shore-related things. But she could totally do it!] We could play I Spy. Or twenty questions. [She's tapping her chin now as she tries to wrack her brain for suitably distracting games that he probably wouldn't find boring.] Oh! We could play Charades... but I'm not sure how much fun that would be with just the two of us. Um... what else? [She's sure she's probably forgetting something.] What games do you like to play? [Because it's just now occurred to her to ask.]

[junkyarddog]

Well...luck means bad luck too, doesn't it? And bad luck's definitely a thing. Like me and Kakipi getting born into a mafia famiglia. [Ken cocks his head.] So if there's bad luck, then there's gotta be good luck. Saying you don't believe in luck...isn't that like saying you don't believe that some things just happen by chance? So you'd have to believe in destiny if you didn't believe in luck...'cause either things can happen by chance, or they happen 'cause they had to.

[Sometimes, Ken ascends beyond his usual basic dog thoughts to prove that there is in fact a functioning, not-too-shabby brain in his head.]

Anyway, Hakkai-sama didn't mind it when I asked him. He'd probably be okay with it.

[He shifts his weight a little at the question about games, eyes showing more interest than they have so far.] I like finding things. And chasing things.

[doodlebuginette]

Luck does mean bad luck too. [She knows this for a fact because someone very dear to her seems to be cursed with mostly bad luck. But she doesn't feel like bringing that up just now. Marinette is blinking at that statement.] You think that's bad luck? [He's absolutely right, though!] I hadn't really thought about it that way. Thanks, Ken! [She's grinning now.] I suppose given the choice, I'm more likely to believe in luck than in destiny. [Even if Adrien is probably the opposite.] See! I knew you were clever.

[And no, she's not just saying that.]

I'm glad he didn't have a problem with you asking him, but maybe I'll hold off on it for now. [She'll probably wait until she's known Hakkai a bit longer.

Mari's just going to take his reaction as a good sign, though. If nothing else, she's managed to provide a distraction for the time being?] Hmm... like catch, or tag? It'll probably be easier to play catch with two people, but we can do that if you want!

[junkyarddog]

[Ken blinks at her statement, straightening up from his usual slouch.] You did? [The happiness is a little bittersweet; the last person who'd complimented his intelligence, after all, was Roy, so it's a reminder of what he's sad about right now. But being complimented still feels good, and he definitely seems to have perked up.]

I guess hide and seek wouldn't really be fair... [Then an idea strikes him.] Maybe like a scavenger hunt? I could find stuff you hide. Especially if it's food. [Ken, you're making an excuse to be given treats.]

[doodlebuginette]

I did. [She's not going to point out that she generally thinks the best of people until proven otherwise, but that's beside the point in this instance. Because really, she doesn't know an awful lot about Ken aside from the fact that he's loyal to Chikusa, and that he likes food maybe more than most people do, and that he's been sad. But even in the short time they'd been speaking, she'd realized there was more to him than people might generally assume. So she doesn't have a problem with saying it.]

Yea... I feel like we'd need some more people to play that one. [But a scavenger hunt? She could absolutely work with that!] That might take a bit of prep work on my end, but we can do that if you want! [And then something else occurs to her.] Unless it's just the food you want. Because I could probably just make you food, you know? [She's not terribly hard to get along with, and she could probably find a way to combine the two. So it's really up to him.] Or we could do both. What's your favorite kind of food?

[junkyarddog]

Meat! [Ken licks his lips eagerly.] And sweets! [He's basically all the most voracious parts - and the discerning, sophisticated palate - of both a dog and a ten-year-old boy.] And I'll just take food by itself, but hunting it down would be fun, too...Kakipi doesn't like it when I actually bring home dead things.

[Yeah, Ken's animal side is...sometimes very gross. Sorry, Marinette. Try not to think about it too hard.]

[doodlebuginette]

[And now she's going to feel a little silly for not guessing that in the first place.] Meat and sweets. Got it~ [She's nodding at that because it's kind of what she'd figured.]

[The kittens brought home dead things all the time, though she had a feeling that Ken likely preferred things bigger than small birds.]

Well... you can bring them to me and I can cook them for you. [Which may or may not be a ridiculous offer on her part, but if nothing else it might be good cooking practice.]

But yes! Give me a little while and I can probably work something out. [Because she's absolutely committed to the scavenger hunt idea if it'll make him feel better.]