ORIGIN

Pages: 1 2 3

EMERGENCY CATERING

"EGGBERT--PLEASE--This way this way this way-!" Nedies was frantic, nearly tripping over his own apron as he quickly (but gently!) scooted the little servant out of his way. He handed him a bit of fruit, and lightly ran back to the stove. He hastily opened the door, pulling out a tray and turning it--oh, no, no, now the pot was boiling over! "Oh-!" The chef rushed to move it off the hot stove.

"ARE THERE-... Are there any GEMBOUNDS about?! This poor, overworked, lowly CHEF--NEDIES NEEDS HELP!"

He spoke loudly as he continued to work, just in CASE help arrived: "Less than a month and a whole feast's food to prepare--hardly two weeks--this wasn't in the job description! -Well it was-! But this is still--THE FRUIT!" He began to bark commands, mostly to himself as little reminders, though anyone arriving would be more than welcome to lend a hand:

"Chop the apples!"

"Sear that meat in the pan!"

"Sauté those onions?! AND THAT GARLIC! -Garlic is IMPORTANT!"

"That cheese needs melting--but not burning!"

"Stir that soup-!"

"The knives, and those plates--they need washing in the sink!"

"Those BARRELS of carrots need dicing!"

...and so on.

[Event] EMERGENCY CATERING has begun! Gembounds are welcome to join and get right to work! They should roll for attempts to aid in any way they choose in preparing this gigantic mystery feast--but failures may damage the food, ex. by overcooking it!

Gembounds should respond to Nedies's instructions with "Yes, Chef!" or he will be mildly disappointed in you.

Sprig visited Cepheus at times, having had a good first impression of it from helping out Mimosa with collecting dyes. And he was back now, to check out what more the palace had to offer. He was wearing his hat that he had acquired the last time he had been here. He followed his nose, which led him into the palace and into the kitchen. The lion had no idea the palace contained a kitchen! And was that- a chef? And a professional one at that too! "I can help!" This was work he enjoyed doing. And pitching in to cook a whole feast? That was an opportunity that definitely didn't come by often.

He decided to take on the first task that was called out, picking up a blade and getting to chopping the apples. Though it was definitely a bit awkward holding it in his mouth, the lion managed. And after a while, he got into a rhythm too.

She was in the library, practicing her reading. A worn book for children propped open on one of the tables as a small black paw carefully moved over the lettering as she very slowly spoke aloud what each sentence said (desperately hoping that anybody else in the library wouldn't hear her stumbling over words). "...and....tah...tamed t-...th...them all....w-wee...wit...with! With...ah...mag....magg...maggie? Mag...agh! What does this word say!"" Her paw floated over the word 'magic'. "Maggic trisk. No, trick. Oh! Magic! Magic trick!" Her ears perked and her tail wiggled with excitement that she'd figured out this problem.

Vaati, next to her, was snoozing peacefully as she continued to read when they both jumped with surprise at the sudden call from another room. Wilder looked up from her book, wondering who was calling. Nedies?

She glanced down at Vaati, who had perked up, nose twitching nervously, but her tail brushed him softly. It's okay, we're not in danger here. She brushed herself against him as she jumped off her stool, abandoning the book where it was and charging out of the library, the giant rat scrambling to follow her.

She arrived into the kitchen just after Sprig and looked around, eyes wide. It was...chaos. Pots boiling, a tiger-centaur running around barking commands, a little duck guy, food everywhere...Vaati was sniffing, intrigued, but her tail lightly brushed him. Not for us. For something else. But obviously he needed help so she would do that! Help! That's what she did.

"Uh, okay, cheese! Melt cheese. I don't think I had cheese before but I can melt...things." But not burn it - yeah, she could do that!

She found the cheese, with some help, and hopped up on the table, her familiar watching from below. She put her paws against the pan it was in and started running heat in the air. Yeah, it was working, and the cheese was melting, but it was melting kind of fast. There was a sizzling sound and she quickly took her paws away and stopped the magic before she started burning anything. "Ow," she hissed, licking her paws, that had started to get a little hot.

It wandered. Cetus abandoned, it had found a sense of curiosity. Too long had dark murky waters bored its mind. Awakened, now, it prowled through shadows, crawled upon the walls. Left a trail of Oil where it dragged itself. Usually it wasn't too bad - like now, where only minimal black dripped from their body. They hadn't eaten in some time and had actually been attracted to the palace by the smell of food.

That really smelled good.

With a pleased gurgling sound, the creature crawled its way through pristine hallways, always the occasional drip. drip. drip. as thick Oil slid from their body onto the lovely floors. It didn't seem to care, or even notice, however, that it was already making a mess.

By the time it reached the kitchen, it had begun to hear the shout of voices. Many voices. Voices meant no prey. Disappointing, but it still smelled good.

It could understand. Kind of. As Nedies called out order, the dark creature looked up at him, mouth parting and a drawling voice hissed out. "Chaaaaaab....aaaaabblesssss? Gaaaaarrr......leeek? Sooooooup....soooooooooup!"

Its eye rolled up and spotted something that was most likely 'soup'. And for the first time in many many cycles, Sekith did higher thinking. Perhaps...if it did what this guy was saying...it would get food!

With another gurgling sound, it opened its wings, scattering droplets of black ink, and launched itself upwards towards the soup pot. It perched on the edge of the stove, instinctively noting the fire beneath and careful not to stick a claw or a feather over (which would be disastrous not just for Sekith but the entire kitch) and leaned forward, Opening its beak- like jaws to gently grasp the handle of the soup spoon. Rather clumsily, and unfortunately getting a few drops of oil in the pot, it began to stir. Some of the soup splashed but, well, there was still plenty of soup left. And it sure was getting stirred.

Sekith made a pleased whine. This was kind of fun.

Don't ask how Fleas ended up here. But as soon as Fleas entered the kitchen she was confronted by the cloying, mouth-watering scent of a kitchen in action. It hit her like a brick straight to the face, and she immediately began to drool. Already there were gembound swarming the place. One word that Nedies said caught her attention, especially given that it was one of the only ones she recognized.

"Meat...?" Fleas said. She licked her chops, "Mmh, I think can handle that." Fleas cautiously approached one of the meat laden pans. She sniffed the perfectly seasoned meat. Fleas mouth began to truly water, eyes darting from Nedies to the pan.

She shied back as a bit of grease popped, and decided to watch from a safe distance. Eventually Nedies had rushed by and flipped another pan of meat, and Fleas decided to take her example from that. She gripped a spatula in her teeth, and prepared to do the same as he had.

It was as if Fleas had found her place in the world, or had a little French echoing grey piloting her. The jackal managed to push down her appetite easily, and masterfully watched the frying meat. She easily fell into a routine of watching and flipping various pans. Her keen nose allowed her to track down and flip various steaks soon as she suspected the scent of getting anywhere close to the acrid scent of burning. She was far from being a chef. But range chef? Line cook? Maybe one day.

"When I speak"
When I think

Cepheus was SO incredibly awesome ,way better that the slimy hole everyone had insisted the Opal stay in. By everyone he meant one guy, of course - but that one guy had just given it permission to help with preparations. For what? It wasn't sure yet. But if it meant easy access to sharp objects...

"YESSHEFF!" She bounded in, repeating some advice it had been given (or maybe it'd been picked up on the journey, it hadn't bothered to remember). Still, she didn't get it quite right, two words coming out as one vaguely understandable noise. Would Nedies find it within his heart to forgive this transgression?

Actually getting to the task required some maneuvering; First she had to position herself backwards to the countertop, then raise her head, bend it as far backwards as could - grab the knife with one of her freakishly long fingers, then get to chopping without violating a Geneva Convention. Good thing the caves dont have any of those!

EMERGENCY CATERING

Nedies offered muttered, rushed thanks and praise, his eyes darting around the room. Wilder wasn't putting her paws in the food--great!--and the jackal hadn't actively stolen any food! Fantastic! OH--and SOMEONE said "YES CHEF!" Nedies spun, beaming at Opal-One. "GOOD! A chef-in-the-making, you are! Indeed, the rest of you may also one day make fine cooks! Thank you, everyone, excellent job! Now--we just need to--"

And suddenly he was sweeping about, moving... just about everything. Melted cheese was thrown together with a cream sauce that he'd been simmering; bits of meat were chopped and tossed with carrots and thrown into another pan. In moments, the kitchen was mostly cleared. "Now--now! We must be swift! I promise I will reward you all but have any of you ever BAKED before?!"

A cupboard was opened, and sheets of cookies swiftly taken out, laid on a massive island counter where everyone could reach. Moving with lightning speed, Nedies set down little brushes and pots of white icing, and little bottles of flavored, natural dye. "We must ICE these PASTRIES!" he declared. "Color the dye! Quickly, now! Paint the cookies! Scenes! Faces! Designs! Whatever you think of but be swift! Oh, we have so little time-...!"

Some of the cookies smelled like--well, cookies. Sweet and doughy. Others were oddly... meaty, and clearly tailored toward carnivores.

The Gembounds have been tasked with mixing icings and painting cookies. Thus far, all cooking has gone surprisingly well, and the Ball is set for success. They should roll for decorating cookies! If they're careful, they can steal a cookie or two while Nedies isn't looking. Honestly, there's so many... He definitely won't notice, probably.

After this round, and one more, Gembounds will be finished with aiding Chef Nedies and may collect their rewards, which will be delicious... assuming everything doesn't end in disaster.

Anyone may still join at any time.

@Sprig @Wilder @Sekith @Fleas @V-Opal-One

He didn't know that there were so many gembounds in these caves that were also as into cooking as he was. Or perhaps they weren't, and were just here to help. Either way, Sprig was thoroughly enjoying the task despite the stressful environment. And this step was finished, he stepped back from the finished apples as Nedies swept through to clear the kitchen. Having three pairs of limbs really made cooking fast and efficient.

Baked? He shook his head no. Would they get to learn? That would be great! Then he could cook a larger variety of things. But would he be able to learn something so new fast enough to get it done in time for feast? Luckily it seemed that wasn't needed, and all they had to do was decorate the cookies. It was tempting to steal one away for further investigation- but he didn't. Stealing wasn't something he did.

Sprig chose two colors of dye, blue and white, and got to work. It was going rather well despite him not having much, or any, experience with decorating cookies. It was only after decorating a few of them that he realized he had been unconsciously making designs that looked like Cadenza. Hopefully no one else would notice.

The Opal straightened at the praise - perhaps, instead of fighting and killing, it could find a career in cooking instead? Less of a danger of being bitten herself, and she could always eat the end product. She’d consider this possibility with more thought, but as soon as the job was finished the carrots were whisked away, and in their place…

He could be considered an omnivore, with the difference between his two faces, and so the scent of dough and meat were doubly enticing. Somewhere behind it, the lower face began to drool. But even more interesting: Creative freedom! This came first, always.

So she got to decorating, memorialising her life events in delicious, short-lived form. The face of its life-giver, purple and navy and startling red, the colours bleeding into eachother and leaking off the cookie. (A result of an over-enthusiastic application of the icing, but not far from the original - the melting effect served to make it look sadder somehow) An equally wet rendition of the Jaspers, paired with his own two faces, wobbly but better made than the rest.

The others included: a comically frightened looking cat, a stick-thin black and green lizard, a crudely rendered Vargas, and finally, a dragon bat - the space where its head would’ve been coated gleefully in red. This one the Opal sneakily lifted to his mouth, hopefully out of Nedies’ sight.

The sounds and smells emanating from the palace's kitchen were intriguing and alluring- even if they found the scent of cooked meat more nauseating than alluring. The kitchen itself was crowded and full of chaos and shouted orders. Infinity found themself arriving just as the cooking spaces were being cleared just to be replaced by frostings, dyes, and cookies to-be-decorated.

Vaguely overwhelmed but quickly drawn into the action, Infinity would shuffle over to a unoccipied space, grabbing a pot of white icing and a random assortment of dyes- without any thought or reason. And then they would get to work, of course.

They.. Well. Icing got onto the cookies. Oh, and there was also a create deal of frosting that WASN'T on any cookies. Infinity would try to discretely lick this up. Gotta clean after yourself, after all.

The colors and patterns looked haphazard and 'abstract,' although Infinity could perfectly describe each design if prompted. This green white and grey swirled design was the sound of wind through leaves. This unappetizing red and brown smeared one was a berry that had rotted before it could be eaten. One cookie was covered entirely in white frosting, but was textured with spikes and swirls, like the expanse of fungus they'd seen in Canis. And this one drizzled in stripes of pale peach and gold was the heat orb-light warming the air right after a period of darkness.

I'd forgive you for not getting any of that, though.

Pages: 1 2 3

Game Master Dark

Sprig

Wilder

Sekith

Fleas

V-Opal-One

Game Master Dark

Sprig

V-Opal-One

Infinity