Video

[theweakhavepurpose]

[The video opens on a pile of wood, sticks, shrubbery, and chunks of what might have been siding, all piled into a very obvious pyramid surrounded by rocks.]

So everything has sucked recently. Back home in Montana, when shit got rough we'd always get together and have a big bonfire. Get drunk, make s'mores, all that stuff. It didn't make things better but at least you forgot about it for a little while.

Worth a try right?

[He sounds like he's honestly asking. He's trying really hard to be positive for once.]

I've got some graham crackers, chocolate, and other things for roasting. No marshmallows though so if anyone wants to come through in the clutch it would be appreciated.

I'm lighting this up tonight at dusk, so if you want in, be there. I've only got so much to burn and it might not last more than an hour or two.

((OOC: Feel free to use this like a log and make top levels and do action things. Go forth and get some bonfire mingling on!))

Comments

audio -> action

[aroundthecoroner]

[Hey, Pratt gets audio! That's a privilege. He's not much of one for social gatherings but... there were s'mores mentioned. And more importantly:]

Oh my god you have chocolate. I'm on my way.

[And true to his word, he does show up, shuffling around the edges of the gathering, hands in his pockets. Until he spots Pratt.]

You, uh, got the goods?

[theweakhavepurpose]

Do you want me to pass this to you in a shady back alley from under my jacket?

[But he does have a bowl of chocolates. They're little squares that he unwrapped from dozens of dessert sections of MRE's, but they are actually chocolate and though they're designed to not spoil for decades, they don't taste that bad.]

[aroundthecoroner]

I mean if that's what it takes.

[But clearly that's not what it takes. Michael reaches out and snags a piece of chocolate.]

I don't know how you got a hold of this, but I don't even care.

[He takes a bite and makes a noise that makes it clear it's been A While since he's had any.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Okay that actually gets a smile out of Pratt because honestly? Same. He might pass out from pleasure if someone found a grande extra caramel frapp from Starbucks for him. ]

I opened all the rest of my MREs and pulled out the dessert sections. I felt pretty bad about ruining a bunch of perfectly serviceable meals just to get some chocolate but... well.. I think it was worth it.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael talks with the rest of the chocolate in his mouth.]

You can't eat them after they're opened? Thought those things were supposed to last basically forever.

[theweakhavepurpose]

If I could keep them airtight they'd be alright. I saved a few in jars I found but it's not like the stores have a tupperware section.

[aroundthecoroner]

Yeah, whenever I have leftovers I just kinda stick the plate in the fridge and hope for the best.

[Not that that's any different from how he lived back in his world, but you know.]

Maybe if you turned this into an MRE feast instead of just a s'mores party?

[theweakhavepurpose]

Have you tried the time honored tradition of putting a second plate upside down on top?

[Bachelor living life hack.]

Trust me, no one is going to want to feast on those things. It tastes like wet cardboard. It's fine, I'll get more canned things at the stores to replace them. At least that stuff might have actually been food at one point.

[aroundthecoroner]

Second plate. That's genius.

[He genuinely hadn't thought of that. Mind blown.]

If they taste so bad, why'd you stock up on them? For the chocolate?

[Not everything is about chocolate, Michael.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

If you microwave it like that it kinda steams it too. So it takes less time.

[Bro he is a master at the microwave.]

In case the stores stopped stocking food again. I could pass them out and no one would starve. They wouldn't be happy eating it, but at least they'd all be okay.

And we used them on one of the expeditions to the Null bunker. So they've served their purpose.

[aroundthecoroner]

That's a pretty smart idea, actually. I mean, the plate thing too, but I mostly meant the whole storing food for a shortage thing. Maybe we should all do that.

[theweakhavepurpose]

It's been useful before, when everyone vanished, when they moved the city and not the stores, a couple of times.

I'll restock on canned stuff after this, but the MRE's made their sacrifice, and now we have chocolate. Worth it.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael takes another bite of his sub-par-but-infinitely-better-than-nothing treat.]

Yeah. Worth it. Thanks, by the way.

action

[theladyofhighever]

[oh, good. another person she recognizes. she approaches carefully]

Which goods are you looking for, may I ask?

[aroundthecoroner]

[Oh hey, it's Mariane. The person who was willing to defend him without even knowing who he was. At least this time they're not faced with a potential enemy.]

It was, uh, a joke. I'm looking for the chocolate.

[theladyofhighever]

[no, this is a social occasion which for her is even more frightening than confronting danger. but she'll try]

Oh. It's over here, I think. [she beckons for him to follow her] I'd never had chocolate until today. I like it.

[aroundthecoroner]

[He follows dutifully. Truth be told, social interaction is more frightening than a monster for him, too. He's gotten a little better but still.]

Do they not have chocolate where you're from, or have you just never had it?

[theladyofhighever]

[social interactions are fraught with unspoken rules and she's awful at the sorts of conversations ladies had in their salons]

They have it. It's grown in Rivain, which is far hotter and more humid than Ferelden is. Most of it is then exported to Orlais where it's then converted into chocolate. Orlais is--decadent and it does not like to share.

[aroundthecoroner]

That's a shame. They won't even share how to make it? And they won't let you buy it from them?

[At least chocolate is a topic they can both agree on.]

[theladyofhighever]

No and no. Not that most Fereldans would buy anything from Orlais. Our nation was conquered and brutally occupied by Orlesians for a long time.

[her father was one of the few exceptions to the rule, even willing to consider Orlesian suitors for Mariane]

[aroundthecoroner]

Oh. That's, uh, unfortunate.

[Colonialism is apparently a thing in all worlds. Too bad.]

How long ago did you guys shake them off?

[theladyofhighever]

Twenty-nine years ago. My mother and father were both veterans of the war which won Feredlen its independence again. Mother raided Orlesian ships, sinking them when she was done with them, and father was a soldier.

[she sounds proud. she is proud of her parents and what they accomplished. it helps stave off the grief of how they died]

[aroundthecoroner]

Wow, yeah, that's recent.

[Counting Hadriel years, he would've been alive during that if it was his world.]

Your parents sound pretty awesome. I bet they told you all kinds of crazy stories.

[theladyofhighever]

Yes, and the scars the war left remain.

[and led to an act of paranoia which sparked a civil war]

They were . . . wonderful people. And yes, they told me many stories of the war. Although, they were loath to let me hear the entirety of The Soldier and the Sea-Wolf, a tavern song about when they first met.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael snorts.]

I mean, there's probably some things that none of us want to learn about our parents.