[GP] Réveillon & New Year's Eve & Check-In

[st_rangepalette]

Emma had said, during Winter's Crest, that she missed a tradition from home called réveillon. She seemed also to miss her cousin, as Lillith missed hers. Since she wished both to learn to cook and to be of comfort to her friend, it had been decided they would make a réveillon dinner for New Year's Eve.

Yet when Emma began to lay out the courses -- oyster soup and potato & leek soup, salad, a gumbo, venison roast, cheeses, and creme brulee, plus several hors d'ouevres not yet decided -- Lillith quailed at the size of the undertaking. Surely she would wish someone to assist who could contribute more than roasted rabbit, wheat or potato flour dumplings, and koláč.

Since Sunny likewise missed her family and would certainly wish a distraction, when she entered the cafe where they were planning, the other two seized upon her almost at once. Sunny could hardly resist their dual entreaty, even had she wished to, and Lillith thought she seemed even more ready for company than previously. Of course Sunny had offerings of her own: jolloff rice, peppered chicken, and fried plantain.

Between they three, the planning and the cooking were very nearly merry, and Lillith kept them liberally supplied with champagne (her personal favorite), too. By late afternoon of the eve of the new year, they had begun lining tables with dishes, and enlisted the help of other friends to make the evening event widely known.

Of course, in addition to the réveillon feast that took over the steakhouse, alcohol flowed freely, lights sparkled brightly, the nightclub had music for dancing. And at some point the Inn or Caroline or Regina hung mistletoe from several of the primary entrances and exits so that unless one wished to or was unaware of the tradition, no one (not even any new arrivals) need greet the new year unkissed.

Comments

Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Once she'd tried a little of all the food at the various tables, Xavin slipped a little away from the main social group. Specifically, she settled herself near the steakhouse's espresso maker. This served multiple purposes. First, she was able to make herself a vanilla latte. Second, it allowed her to people watch conveniently. And third, being near the device with a coffee was its own explanation; perhaps someone would want coffee enough to allow her to practice on them.

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"Xavin!" Lillith called cheerfully when she saw her new friend. "Hello!"

She did so like the shapeshifter. It was so nice to be with someone who understood having a shape that frightened people.

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"Hello, Lillith!" Xavin smiled at her and waved a little. Lillith was very kind and very relaxing - she seemed not at all thrown by Xavin's shifting, not at all confused. Not exactly as a ploy to keep her nearby for a little while, Xavin gestured at the espresso setup. "Would you like a coffee? Explosions almost never happen anymore."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"I...explosions?" Lillith asked, looking bemused at Xavin's excitement for the explosion or non-explosions. She was not sure. "I would like a coffee but I do not know how to make one. Do you?"

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"Yes, I am getting very good at it." Xavin nodded, then considered what to make for Lillith. Only for a few seconds, then she set two shots of espresso brewing and poured some milk to steam. "This is espresso, it is very strong coffee made very quickly. Often it is mixed with hot milk and flavoring or sweetening."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

Lillith was more interested in the machine than the coffee. "How does it work? The machine. We have so few where I am from and most are of limited use." Taryon had made the automata, and Percy, certainly could make wonderful mechanical creations, and yet this seemed very sleek to Lillith with none of its gears showing.

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"I do not know. I know how to make it work, but I doubt I could take it apart and put it together." Xavin pointed at the openings currently spitting espresso into shot glasses. "Ground coffee beans go in there, and hot water is shot through them to make the coffee. This hose here," she started foaming the milk, "spits hot steam, I think, so that milk heats up and foams."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"May I watch while you do it? It does smell so very good, the coffee. And I am fascinated by the machinery." Plus Xavin was very pretty and had very clever hands. She could appreciate that, too. "What other flavors may be added to the coffee?"

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"Of course!" Company was pleasant, and Xavin was fond of Lillith. It was a rare individual, in her experience, who had as short a learning curve when faced with a true shapeshifter. And admittedly, it didn't hurt at all that Lillith, at least in her current appearance, bore some faint resemblance to Karolina. "For myself, I often use vanilla and caramel. When chocolate is added, it is called a mocha. I thought perhaps I would add hazelnut, for you. I do not know if you would like it, it simply seemed to me that you might."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"I do not know this flavor you call hazelnut, but I am pleased to try it," she replied, eyes bright with pleasure while she watched the other girl at work. "If you travel as I have been forced to do, you are not particular when it comes to sustenance. Anything with flavor other than mush is pleasure in itself." The longer she talked, the more her own true accent emerged, for she had no reason to hide it from Xavin.

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Xavin smiled and added some hazelnut syrup to the coffee as well as a little chocolate - those two went together well, she thought. "Before this Inn, I was in prison. I was mostly pleased when my food was not spoiled. I agree that it is better here."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"Oh. Oh dear," Lillith replied, some confusion in her voice but mostly sympathy. Anyone might be guilty of something that put them in jail. Certainly Bellenore might claim she had attacked her without provocation. "Is it uncomfortable for me to ask what happened?"

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

For a moment, it was very tempting to take refuge in Karolina's face, but Xavin powered through it with a deep breath. Lilith had not assumed anything, it would be fine. "I do not mind. I am committed to being honest here, as much as I can. My parents affianced me as a hatchling to a girl from a species with which my people were at war. After they died, I went to find her, and she agreed to marry me. At our wedding, matters... went awry. Her home world was destroyed. The survivors blamed her for the destruction and came after her. I took her shape and her place, so she could stay with her family." Perhaps Xavin could have claimed the Runaways as her family, too, but... they were Karolina's. They had only ever tolerated her for love of Karolina. "I intended to keep her place for the rest of my days, but ended up here instead."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo brought a bottle of Baileys up and put it on the table near the machine. She gave a small up-nod to the woman in front of her. "In case people want a little extra in their coffee."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"That is kind, thank you." Curious, Xavin picked up the bottle. Bailey's, probably a brand name. Irish Cream... she had never heard, previously, that dairy products were different in Ireland. Upon more careful inspection, it became apparent that the difference between regular dairy products and Irish dairy products was alcohol. Was that the case with all food products? How terrible was Ireland?

Xavin was almost sad she'd never get the chance to find out. "Do you know if this foams like milk?"

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo paused to think. "Uh. I have no idea. I'm more of a 'pour in and stir' kind of gal."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Xavin nodded slowly. Perhaps she'd try another time and see if it foamed. Not right now, as it was best not to perform experiments that might result in fire while surrounded by people who were not expecting such a thing. "I suppose it then becomes an Irish coffee?" Normal beverage plus alcohol equals Irish beverage?

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo grinned a bit. "I guess so. I do know lots of Irish people who like to add something extra in their drink. Whisky, usually, but this makes it feel more like a dessert."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Confirmation. How sad. Xavin shook her head. "What a terrible place Ireland must be, when making things 'Irish' means 'add alcohol'."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo looked a little confused. "Uh... well, I've never been but I've been told it's actually really nice." She paused. "Why would alcohol mean it's bad?"

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"If making ordinary food 'Irish' means adding alcohol, it requires a great deal of alcohol to live in Ireland. Alcohol is an addictive depressant and metabolic poison." Xavin nodded. Her reasoning hung together even when spoken aloud to someone else. "Only a terrible place would induce slow suicide in its population."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

There was another moment of slight confusion before Bo smiled. "I don't think that's really how it works. Most people think of alcohol as something nice to have."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

"Ah." A human thing, then. Sadly, it was a better explanation. "I do not care for it, most of the time. Appropriate modification of my internal organs to negate poison damage can be difficult, especially so when I am also being affected by a depressant."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo didn't understand some of it, but she got the whole 'I don't like alcohol' thing. "Drinking's not for everyone. Lots of people don't do it at all. I, on the other hand, might go a little crazy if I don't have a drink once in a while."

Re: Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Xavin nodded solemnly. "I have heard it observed that 'it takes all kinds'." To do what, no one had ever said in her hearing. But it seemed right.