A Thousand Sugar Stars, Oh Put Them in a Jar (October Catch-All)

[ricebird]

Characters: Kotori Iida [Sweet Porridge Girl], Della Duck [Icarus], Master Crane [Crane (Tsuru no Ongaeshi)], Disciple [Jekyll and Hyde], and YOU!
Campaign: Break
Format: Starting with brackets, but will match
One Open, Two Closed
Summary: Kotori comes back from a brief trip home, makes lots of tasty food with people, and wakes up at an ungodly early hour to train. (Oh, also, Hyde happens.)


A. I Looked at the World Through Apple Eyes (Closed to Della Duck and Master Crane)

[Wild and unpredictable as restoring The Little Mermaid had been, Kotori is very, VERY glad the ending turned out happy, with not a speck of mermaid-derived seafoam in sight. Coming back to the Index and seeing the city dressed in autumn colors, though… is it already close to a year since the Storyteller first brought them here? Close to a year since she last saw home… She should fix that.

So after telling a few of her closer friends and asking them to watch her place and let any other Aspects who ask know so no one panics ROXAS, she asks the Storyteller to send her home, just for a little while. By Index time, she’s only gone a few days; in Japan, it’d only been a few weeks. It was… weird being back in a completely normal world after spending a year here. Going through school, cooking more with Inuzuka-sensei and Tsumugi-chan, her mom working hard again. Shinobu had even been visiting her during lunch break lately, even if it felt a bit awkward not telling her about cooking with the Inuzukas… or this place, for that matter. The remembered it vividly for a few days, but… then started writing it off as a dream. Huh. The whole business is weird, really, like the time differences, and her feelings for…

But she can think about all that later. The Storyteller brought her back in late at night it seems, and she’s already really tired. One good thing about all her schooling being left at home is that she can sleep in as late as she wants tomorrow. …… Which, if her memories of the Index had been a little fresher, she’d remember as having scheduled a certain meeting with a certain duck. This should be interesting.]


B. And Cut Myself a Slice of Sunshine Pie (Open)

[Between this new routine of cooking sessions with the Inuzukas, her pot’s new shapeshifting ability, the pub’s brand new kitchen, and actually having a recipe collection to work with, and creating the massive feast during the ball, Kotori’s not only started getting used to cooking with other people, she’s actually starting to crave it even more than she had been. So whether she asks you herself, or you ask to come over to practice a recipe (especially for a date coming up~), from late morning to a little bit into the evening, Kotori’s available to make just about anything.

Or maybe you smelled good food inside and decided to invite yourself into this strangely cauldron-shaped pub. (Especially if it involves daikon GOBO.) Those in this category might be confused to see that the space is clean and well-kept, if rustic, there doesn't seem to be much of a crowd. In fact, the only person here is a teenage girl, in the middle of cleaning the kitchen in the back, sweeping and polishing the floors and counters up front, or sitting down at the bar for a meal for one, depending on what time of day you catch her.

Still, yes, Kotori’s door is open, so come on in, cook, and eat!]


C. I Danced with the Peanut Butterflies (Closed to Disciple)

[Of course, even with how fun these cooking lessons are, a little quite time in between is always nice. (Not to mention kitchens don’t clean themselves…) So after doing some sweeping and mopping for the day, Kotori’s sitting at the bar counter with a nice, simple dinner with a steaming bowl of nyuumen and a cup of hot green tea. Perfect for a cool, peaceful autumn day like this… ……. Okay but maybe a miniature apple charlotte after this would be nice. After seconds, of course.]


D. Till Time Went and Told Me to Say Hello but Wave Goodbye (Wildcard)

[[Got something in find other than the prompts listed here? Feel free to hit me up on Plurk or Discord so we can plot!]]

Comments

[ricebird]

[At least they were out of the blast radius on that one... hopefully.]

Haha, sticky bun... Clever, and that'll be useful too.

[Still, her laugh might sound a little faint, given she's still recovering from the bread blade. (Blead? Brade?)]

[tempredmental]

[This time, he picked up on her hesitance.]

You okay, Kotori?

[He picked up another one of the sticky buns, and started to pull it apart to see if it was edible. Seemed like it. He took an experimental bite.]

Hey, that's pretty good...

[ricebird]

A-ah, yeah, I'm fine, I just... didn't expect the bread to [gulp] cut things...

[Yeah, no, she's a terrible liar. But ooh, distraction-- I mean food!]

Oh, is it? Could I have a bite, please?

[tempredmental]

[Keith frowned a bit.]

I don't know if it'll work for other people, but... you could try it, if you wanted.

[He broke off another piece of the bun and offered it over.]

Here. Don't know if it would be as good as yours, but it's not bad.

1/2

[ricebird]

[Uh well... the offer actually makes Kotori quietly startle again before trying to recover.]

N-no no, it's fine. We're here to work on your powers, right?

2/2

[ricebird]

[And just like that, she's quick to snatch up the piece of bun with a short "thanks!" before popping it in her mouth.]

Mm! Wow, this is really good, Keith-san~! You're right, I definitely need to figure out a recipe for this for myself!

[tempredmental]

[Keith quirked an eyebrow at her response, looking confused, and then shrugged as Kotori seemed to enjoy the bun's flavor.]

Yeah. Though, it seems like I can make a whole bunch of 'em.

[Just to experiment again, Keith took a deep breath, focusing on the basket again, and tried one more time to empty it.

This time, it really did seem to stick. He sighed in relief.]

Okay... I think I can get the hang of this.

[In a way, it was almost like figuring out the Lions. He just needed to focus.]

[ricebird]

[HOORAY, the hasty change of subject worked! She definitely calms down a little as she enjoys the bun, and then watches closely as Keith draws from the basket... and huzzah, he did it!]

Ah~! That's awesome, Keith-san, you're doing great!

[tempredmental]

[Thankfully, Keith was pretty decent at picking this sort of thing up. Associating it in his head with the bond he had with his Lion helped a lot, honestly. While he couldn't "talk" to the basket in the same way he could with Red or Black, controlling it was a lot like controlling his bayard or the armor, anything he was used to using with quintessence. Not exactly, but close enough that Keith could catch on.

He smiled a little.]

Thanks. I appreciate you coming out here with me to test this stuff.

[ricebird]

Of course, I'm glad I could help! Figuring out powers like this can be difficult. I was in the first batch of Aspects the Storyteller brought here, so we were kind of on our own for getting them right.

[So she really is glad they all have that support network with each other, and that the "veterans" can better help any newcomers find their footing.]

[tempredmental]

That had to be hard.

[He couldn't imagine being stuck like that alone without anyone to ask for help.]