The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Tuesday (Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

Warren had gone to graduation, but Karla hadn't been able to get away to go, too. That had been disappointing, but it had meant she'd been able to make sure that there was literally nothing about to go wrong or that would need her attention for the next week or so.

Why?

Because Ben and Ender were visiting, eeeeeee!

While she couldn't ignore her responsibilities entirely (more's the pity), she had informed her entire First Circle that she would be largely unavailable for the duration of the visit and was to be bothered only in the direst of emergencies. And if there was a dire emergency, they needed to inform her on psychic threads and never in front of her visitors.

If anything happened, Ben and Ender weren't going to know about it, dammit. And most certainly wouldn't be involved in fixing it. But nothing was going to happen. She was Quite Serious about everything going smoothly. Were you listening, Kaeleer? Nothing bad was allowed to happen.

[NFB, open to residents and the expected guests!]

Comments

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Oooh, you mean I get to have my First Circle fully assembled for awhile now?* Karla teased. *Maybe I will end up throwing a fancy party just to celebrate.*

Though actually throwing that party was a great way to ensure that Jono turned around and fled back to the island at the first opportunity.

*I'm sure the dead leaves are dreadfully sorry not to be suitably entertaining.*

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//And I'm certain your guests would love the opportunity to attend a formal event during their vacation,// Jono replied, digging Joni out of the pile of leaves she'd managed to bury herself under and picking the sticks and burrs from her fur. //Joni finds the leaves quite entertaining, at least. Might just me my discerning tastes spoiling them for me.//

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Why wouldn't they?* Karla asked. *Everyone loves stuffy formal affairs. They're super fun!*

Lies. Such grievous, grievous lies.

*And did you ever think maybe your tastes weren't discerning enough? Maybe Joni is the sophisticated one and you're not highbrow enough to understand the fascination.*

Yup. Karla just suggested you might have less sophistication than an animal that licks its own butt.

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

How fortunate was it that Jonothon was completely incapable of licking anything, just to be on the safe side?

//I'm fairly certain she ate a few beetles while we were out here,// he mused. //Glacian delicacy?//

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*I bet Hannibal could do something with them,* she said airily. *He'd probably see it as a challenge.*

Of course, when it came to Hannibal's cooking, Karla was taking nothing for granted anymore. Thank you for that, Audric.

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Isn't that all food really is? A challenge? Someone had to figure out what the hell to do with the white round thing that came out of that chicken's behind, after all...//

Jono once again had the luxury of overthinking food, now that inadvertently turning himself off of it wasn't really a concern.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

While making it awkward for those people who still ate. Good job, Jono.

*Food is not meant to be a dare,* Karla sniffed. *That's one of the benefits of having ancestors. They figured out all the weird stuff so that we can eat in peace.*

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

Hey, if he couldn't enjoy it, nobody could. At least he didn't sit and sulk over empty dishes at mealtimes anymore.

//All of it? I don't know... I've seen some fairly questionable things that people consider food.//

He'd seen your cooking, Karla.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*You mean 'all of Britain's cuisine it didn't steal from its colonies'?* Karla asked, his point sailing high over her head.

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Oh, yes. Beef wellington is especially nefarious,// Jono snarked right back. //Or trifle. Or shortcake. And let's not forget steak and ale pie...//

Damn it, he was wishing he had the ability to eat any of these things, now.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Eel and kidney pie. Brain and kidney pie. Pretty much anything that involves eating kidneys. Tripe. Blood pudding. Head cheese. Marmite. Shall I keep going?*

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Tart, sponge cake, crumble,// Jono shot back. //I have no excuse for Marmite, but honestly, there's nothing wrong with eating organ meats. How bloody much do you people waste because you're too bloody stodgy to put a perfectly good piece of liver in your mouth?//

He missed steak and kidney pie, damn it.

//Honestly, I don't know what your hangup is with blood pudding, considering here you make a naffin' wine out of the stuff.//

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Do you see me drinking the stuff?* Karla asked. *We use the blood wine for important ceremonies and it's like a mouthful at the most.*

And, okay, blooded rum at Winsol. But that was also ceremonial.

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Mmm, but you can't go pointing a finger at British food - a lot of which is actually almost identical to some of the things I see Cook whipping up on a regular basis - when your own cuisine raises a few eyebrows all on its own.//

Jono tucked Joni neatly into his jacket pocket, confident that he'd picked all of the assorted forest crap out of her fur, and then set off toward the building.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Says you, snuggly teaspoon.*

When you don't have a compelling argument on your side, go for cutesy nicknames instead.

*And tell your cat that Nemit's still not for eating. I don't think she got the memo the last ten times.*

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Anything that's smaller than she is that still dares to pick through her food dish is fair game,// Jono countered, sounding vaguely amused. //You should tell your reptile that Joni's food is for Joni, and he's got plenty of bugs to eat this time of year, himself.//

So there, Nemit. So there.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

This was going to be such a thing between them, wrangling on behalf of their pets.

Because, you know, they didn't have enough to bicker about.

*He only goes poking around in there when she's decided that the empty middle of the bowl means that there's nothing left and she's going to starve.*

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//All the more reason for her to be protective of it,// Jono replied. //She's already afraid she's going to die a horrible starving death, and here he comes, picking at what's left? What else is a hungry kitten to do?//

Besides pester Jono to refill her bowl, of course.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Yowl repeatedly like someone's tying knots in her tail?*

That seemed to be her standard thought process, anyway.

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Well, why are you tying knots in my cat's tail, Karla?//

Honestly, now. Joni was a good kitten.

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*Because she was trying to eat my dinosaur.*

So was wee baby Nemit! Hims was too tiny to get into trouble!

Re: Outside

[furnaceface]

//Which she wouldn't need to do, if he wasn't eating her food in the first place,// Jono pointed out reasonably, bringing this back around full-circle. //It's his own bloody fault if he's too busy stuffing his gob with her kibble to fly away when she steps in to protect it.//

Re: Outside

[glacial_queen]

*She just like chasing him,* Karla said, because logic wasn't going to sway her belief that Nemit could do no wrong. *Come on inside. All that nature's clearly affecting your mind.*