thenearshore | won't you take me

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won't you take me

Who: The Li Tieguai clusterfuck
What: Well, we're out of a shitty haunted forest, who wants dinner?
When: November 16, evening
Where: Li Tieguai's Temple

Usually, when there's some big nonsense in Heaven, Chikusa can be found out cold or "away" in his own head for most of the following couple of days afterwards... but that apparently only counts for event which involve people. Spending an entire day trekking through a possessed forest filled with violent plant-life and cultists is manageable.... somehow.

No matter how exhausted or injured anyone in the temple is, food still has to be made, and Hakka is in no condition to make it. Thus, dinner is being arranged by the other cook in the house, and invitations have been sent out to the relevant people Chikusa thinks care- namely Nanako and Ayumu, along with anyone they seek to bring. That doesn't mean people checking in on the Li Tieguai temple can't just waltz right into the dinner as well....

There's a lot to do in the time leading up to dinner, after all, depending on when people show up (or, you know, realize there's smells coming from the kitchen). Bon, the resident enormous Tibetan Mastiff, demands attention in the form of bodily flinging himself at people. There's a goat in the garden, tied away from all the important medical herbs. At least four different nekomata wander in and out of the temple ground whenever they please, including Pookie, the most permanent resident, and never shut up.... Not to mention that a Kung-Fu movie has been put on the television for people to watch.

There's also a sign on all entrances to the kitchen that says: CHO HAKKAI IS NOT ALLOWED TO COOK. Presumably Chikusa put it up while making direct eye contact with him.

Either way, mess around until dinner, have dinner, crash in the living room where another kung-fu movie has been put on again... Have fun.

Oh, and before it can be forgotten.... The dinner menu for the night is fritto misto, meaty Amatriciana sauce with bucatini noodles, and all the garlic bread in the world apparently. For dessert? Cannoli again. That... might be all he knows how to make on the dessert front.

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A - Dinner Prep

Honestly, ever since Hakkai went missing, Chikusa knew he'd have to pick up the household chores again. Ever since they found him, he's known just as much that he'd still have to do it. Most of it he refuses to do, so long as there are other people in the temple with the capability to do simple things like that... .

But cooking? Cooking is something he knows only he should be trusted with.

The smell wafting out from the kitchen is warm and inviting, the kind that only tempts the hollowness in an empty stomach with the idea of being filled up. Bread, warm meat, tomatoes sweetening everywhere the scent reaches... It might be hard to resist trying to steal something, but it's ill advised. Clad in a pink beanie with a floral patch and an apro to match, Chikusa is wielding a rolling pin at any given time and not afraid to use it.

...But if you're not here for food theft, come in anyway, and he might be inclined to chat.

B - Dinner

There is so much pasta.

There is so much sauce.

There is frankly a horrifying amount of bread.

And yet.... With his elbows on the table and his cheek in one hand, Chikusa blinks sleepily at it all. "...Not enough... Maybe..."

He might be right or wrong, and either option is a little horrifying.

C - After Dinner

While he's the one who put in the movie to satisfy some of the other people in the household and their guests, Chikusa doesn't really care about that. Instead, he's wandered off into the garden where he's sitting, legs and fingers sprawled out in the grass. His head is tilted back, lazily watching the sky.

...But he's definitely aware of anyone coming over, not even needing to look as he says, "What?"

Cooking, for a house this big? That's not something one person should be trusted with. That's too much work, isn't it?

Gojyo actually knows nothing about cooking, but he knows about eating, and he knows how much he eats, and Ken eats. And given how popular Hakkai is, he wouldn't be surprised if more people show up to wish him well. It's not fair to put all that work on Chikusa, is it? So about the time he notices the first sign, he knows what he has to do.

"Hey." He hovers in the doorway of the kitchen, not wanting to interrupt Chikusa's flow. There's a lot going on in there (and it all smells amazing), and he's here to make peace, more or less. Getting in the kid's way wouldn't help that. "What can I do?"

Right now, the most overwhelming scent around is that of warm garlic bread, with another batch of it having been just put into the oven. More plates of it have been put to the side, and Chikusa is just sliding an oven mitt off of his hand when Gojyo decides to make his presence known.

Chikusa's.... known that he's been there, a second before he even speaks, but he was determined to ignore him. Now that he's speaking, however.... He glances slightly over at the redhead, just past the curtain of his hair. It's seriously too long... He's going to have to start tying it back, soon.

"...What can you do?" For all that he doesn't particularly like Gojyo, he also won't turn away the opportunity to lessen his own workload. But he's not going to shove someone to something complicated if they're an idiot.

That's not a fuck off you loser! That's promising! Gojyo takes a step into the kitchen; the garlic bread smells amazing and it's taking real effort to keep his attention on Chikusa and not on the promise of hot buttery bread.

"I dunno." It's easy to be honest abou his ability -- or inability -- when his self-esteem's about on par with a puddle of mud. "I can cut stuff up?" His gaze drifts around the kitchen briefly, looking for other ways he can help. Ah. There. He nods at the sink. "I can do the dishes?"

Let him help, Chikusa. This is a peace offering -- please accept it.

Nothing... A sigh filters out of him. This is exactly why he knew he'd have to take up cooking duty, for the day if nothing else. Still, there are things even unskilled people can do. That's... something.

"There's meat to cut up." Tossing the mitt to the side, he starts to shuffle to one of the other counters. He's kept the guanciale covered, because he has a fairly decent idea of how people can be, but he removes the line of paper towel strips away from the large gathering of meat. It's.... kind of amazing, honestly, but they have a lot of people in the house, and one of those people is Ken. There's no such thing as "too much meat".

"I need it sliced.... Thinly. Can you do that..." Or does he have to demonstrate?

Gojyo carefully doesn't let himself be annoyed by Chikusa's face-rending slowness. He's here to help, he's going to help... but how can anyone move so slowly? You'd think he was a grandfather with the way he shuffles around!

The pile of meat is a good distraction from Chikusa's apathy. "I can do that." He's cut meat before. He'd used a bigger knife and the meat was attached to people, but the concept is the same, right? Not gonna lie, he'd been kinda hoping for something a little less violent, but if this is what chikusa needs done, then this is what he'll do.

He picks a knife from the knife block seemingly at random -- bigger is better, right? -- and turns back to his task. "What are you making?"

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C

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C!

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Super late A

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