HALO 183: The Not Remotely Gritty Reboot

[Felandria]

"Yeah. Like you have lightning powers, right?"
"Anyway, guess I'd better see the kitchens now, huh?"
Honeysuckle smiles, amused at the situation. Poor HALO.

Felandria leads Honeysuckle to see the kitchens.

I didn’t mean to imply anything, about the cooking, I mean, if that’s something you want to do, that’s awesome, but I don’t want you to think that I think anything like that, we could use all the help we can get and I want everyone to be happy and do what they think they’re best at.

Am I making any sense?

[Recaiden]

Felandria leads Honeysuckle to see the kitchens.

I didn’t mean to imply anything, about the cooking, I mean, if that’s something you want to do, that’s awesome, but I don’t want you to think that I think anything like that, we could use all the help we can get and I want everyone to be happy and do what they think they’re best at.

Am I making any sense?

Felandria leads Honeysuckle to see the kitchens.

to see the kitchens.

see

"Okay, these are pretty nice." Honeysuckle comments once they've looked at them both.
"Fel, I learned to be a good cook because I don't have any skills. Anyone can cook." I don't think she appreciates how bad people can be (in that sense). "But I should do something to help. Right?"

[Felandria]

"Okay, these are pretty nice." Honeysuckle comments once they've looked at them both.
"Fel, I learned to be a good cook because I don't have any skills. Anyone can cook." I don't think she appreciates how bad people can be (in that sense). "But I should do something to help. Right?"

"Okay. Gonna have to give the kitchens a pass. I see enough at work without also lookingat them in my time off, and I won't be able to tell the tools apart, no thanks. What else?"[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes, absolutely, and hopefully we can help each other learn new skills too!

Felandria continues to practically radiate sincerity.

And of course you will have your own quarters here as well.

As does everyone here, of course, heck I have several places to lay my head at this point.

And now you do as well!

[Recaiden]

"Uh, yeah. What skills are you hoping to learn?"
Is Felandria really serious about this? How can someone be that cheerful?

"Let's see these quarters, then."
If they'll just give her a place to stay here, and all she has to do is help around the base, surely that's cheaper than renting a room from Fel, even if it was a really good deal.

[Felandria]

"Uh, yeah. What skills are you hoping to learn?"
Is Felandria really serious about this? How can someone be that cheerful?

"Let's see these quarters, then."
If they'll just give her a place to stay here, and all she has to do is help around the base, surely that's cheaper than renting a room from Fel, even if it was a really good deal.

((O no! Fel’s in danger of losing a roommate! ))

Felandria is always cheerful when she’s trying not to let anyone worry about her.

Honestly, I’ve never been much of a cook, really.

I can make soup, beyond that I struggle.

Felandria brings Honeysuckle to the quarters and shows her the nearest empty room.

Its not very big, really.

Mostly it’s for a place to rest between missions if things get really bad.

You can decorate however you like, tho.

[Recaiden]

((Well, Fel will just have to stay in the HALO dorm room next to Honeysuckle so they're still in the same situation.))

The newest member stands in the door for a moment, taking in the emptiness of the room and the closeness of the walls, giving a nod.

Now, as to Felandria's answer, that isn't transparent at all.
"Well, back to the kitchen then. I'll have to teach you."

Honeysuckle finds her way right back to the bigger of the kitchen, not lost at all, and spends a minute moving around to examine the stores of food.
"Now, what do we have to work with?"

[Felandria]

((But..........))

Felandria looks around in the pantry.

Well, there’s a buncha soup.

And tuna.

There’s a lot of different stuff too.

Potatoes, pasta, canned things.....

She heads over to the fridge.

Various and sundry ground and non ground meats, numerous frozen pizzas, many ice creams and popsicles.....

Ooh, we could make chicken fried rice?

[Recaiden]

((Well, maybe they can come to some other arrangement ))

"Frozen pizza? Damn. You guys do need my help."

Honeysuckle stands with a hand on her hip for a moment, thinking. Thankfully she knows that chicken fried rice is nothing like chicken-fried steak.

"That'll do. Start cutting up the chicken; I'll get the rice going. After dinner. We're going to go get some ingredients. Vegetables. Spices."
The ratio of frozen:fresh foods is too damn high!
And yes, the rice is the easier part. That's why Felandria doesn't get to do it; she needs practice!

[Felandria]

((Well, maybe they can come to some other arrangement ))

"Frozen pizza? Damn. You guys do need my help."

Honeysuckle stands with a hand on her hip for a moment, thinking. Thankfully she knows that chicken fried rice is nothing like chicken-fried steak.

"That'll do. Start cutting up the chicken; I'll get the rice going. After dinner. We're going to go get some ingredients. Vegetables. Spices."
The ratio of frozen:fresh foods is too damn high!
And yes, the rice is the easier part. That's why Felandria doesn't get to do it; she needs practice!

((Yaaaaay!))

Felandria will dutifully do just that, cutting the chicken breasts into relatively tiny little cubes.

They aren’t super uniform, her knife skills aren’t the best, but she at least didn’t make a mess out of it.

Ookay, what do we do now?

[Recaiden]

"Turn the stove on medium, add 4 spoons of cooking oil and the chicken."
"And in the future don't make them so cubical. A little longer is better."

Honeysuckle rummages around for some cans of vegetables and hands them to Fel.
"Open these cans, cut up these carrots into little bits, and once the chicken is cooked, put it on a plate and the veges into the pan."
She will be preparing the eggs. They do have eggs here, right?
"Oh, and add a bit of salt, pepper, and magspice while the chicken is cooking."

[Felandria]

"Turn the stove on medium, add 4 spoons of cooking oil and the chicken."
"And in the future don't make them so cubical. A little longer is better."

Honeysuckle rummages around for some cans of vegetables and hands them to Fel.
"Open these cans, cut up these carrots into little bits, and once the chicken is cooked, put it on a plate and the veges into the pan."
She will be preparing the eggs. They do have eggs here, right?
"Oh, and add a bit of salt, pepper, and magspice while the chicken is cooking."

Now is where things get complicated!

As Fel prepares the stove, her mind reels....

Carrots?

EGGS???

As far as Fel knew, chicken fried rice only had chicken, rice, soy sauce and a touch of garlic.

She opens the cans and readies the carrots, making sure the chicken doesn’t burn.

Ive never seen eggs in chicken fried rice, I am intrigued.

Do you have any specialties, food wise, a favorite dish?

[Recaiden]

Please Fel. That's like, level 1 fried rice.

Honeysuckle 'hmm's and considers as she adds the garlic and starts frying the eggs.
"Well, favorite food? Hard to pick. Beignets de foie, gomoku inarizushi, risalamande - they're all my favorites!"

And now to start the scrambling...
"The thing I make really well? Pretzels. Baking soda is super-clear to me."

[Felandria]

Please Fel. That's like, level 1 fried rice.

Honeysuckle 'hmm's and considers as she adds the garlic and starts frying the eggs.
"Well, favorite food? Hard to pick. Beignets de foie, gomoku inarizushi, risalamande - they're all my favorites!"

And now to start the scrambling...
"The thing I make really well? Pretzels. Baking soda is super-clear to me."

((For real tho, I had never heard of eggs in fried rice :) ))

Fel doesn’t recognize any of the things Honeysuckle just mentioned, and it honestly makes her a little sad.

But she perks up at the mention of...

Ooh, pretzels!

They’re so soft and warm and salty and nummy.

I always get one when I go to the mall, as is tradition.

She takes the done chicken and puts it on the plate and throws the veggies in as instructed.

There is one thing I know how to make, it’s also kinda in the soup category, but I make a lasagna.

Only I use cream of chicken soup instead of the sauce, so it’s layers of lasagna noodles with the creamy soup and chicken chunks in between

[Recaiden]

((Yeah people add lots of different things to it.))

"That's... not really lasagna anymore. But it sounds delicious! You'll have to make it for us some time soon."

Honeysuckle takes the plate of chicken, adds the garlic, and then combines it with the rice and eggs. A bit of stirring, washing one of the dishes while the vegetable finish up...almost there!

"Mall traditions? I guess I've never gone enough to have those." She can probably count her trips to Mallside on one hand.

[Felandria]

((Yeah people add lots of different things to it.))

"That's... not really lasagna anymore. But it sounds delicious! You'll have to make it for us some time soon."

Honeysuckle takes the plate of chicken, adds the garlic, and then combines it with the rice and eggs. A bit of stirring, washing one of the dishes while the vegetable finish up...almost there!

"Mall traditions? I guess I've never gone enough to have those." She can probably count her trips to Mallside on one hand.

I will!

Well, yeah, every mall has a pretzel kiosk, otherwise you’re not allowed to be a mall.

I went the other day to buy a friend some new furniture.

Most of the time I go there is for the spa.

Though it’s been a while since I had a spa day.

[Recaiden]

"Allowed ... to be a mall?" What a crazy idea. Malls aren't allowed. They just exist, pretzel shop and all, or they don't. Maybe, Honeysuckle admits to herself, if you think about it, the mall must have gotten there somehow...

"Well, then it's time you go again! When do you have some time free? We can visit the spa and get pretzels."
But for the moment, there's a meal to eat!
As the vegetables finish up, Honeysuckle slides all the ingredients together into one dish and mixes them all up.

Chicken fried rice!

[Felandria]

"Allowed ... to be a mall?" What a crazy idea. Malls aren't allowed. They just exist, pretzel shop and all, or they don't. Maybe, Honeysuckle admits to herself, if you think about it, the mall must have gotten there somehow...

"Well, then it's time you go again! When do you have some time free? We can visit the spa and get pretzels."
But for the moment, there's a meal to eat!
As the vegetables finish up, Honeysuckle slides all the ingredients together into one dish and mixes them all up.

Chicken fried rice!

Well, I gotta check up on the Olympian in the morning, but after that I’m free.


And then, Rice!

Ooh, it smells wonderful.

I’ll get some plates.

Which she does.

[Recaiden]

"I've work tomorrow morning. Till 10. Meet you here after that."

And then plates are had by all, and Honeysuckle dishes out plenty of the rice for herself, and plenty more for Felandria (who is, after all, giant) and digs in!
She eats quickly and busily. No time for talking! There's food!

[Felandria]

"I've work tomorrow morning. Till 10. Meet you here after that."

And then plates are had by all, and Honeysuckle dishes out plenty of the rice for herself, and plenty more for Felandria (who is, after all, giant) and digs in!
She eats quickly and busily. No time for talking! There's food!

Agreed, it is ricetimez!

It is quite delicious indeed, chicken and garlicky and oh so good!

This is fantastic, Honeysuckle, thank you.

And yes, after ten is perfect, we’ll have a lovely afternoon.

[Recaiden]

Mostly chickeny! That's the important part!
Honeysuckle does have a weakness for birds.

She stops, halfway through her ninth spoonful of the meal, to say a casual blessing over the fried rice. "Thanks, goddess, for the lunch. And I guess, also. Thanks to Fel, as a demigoddess, but also you literally helped cook..."
"Anyway. Eat up."

She nods to Felandria confirming the time; it's a date.
And then, once the food is finished and she has a moment to really answer, "I'll see you then!"

[Reinholdt]

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt yawns and stretches, paws curling against the sofa. Once awake, Rein hops down and heads towards Felandria's Office.

Does he knock?
He does.
It's pretty quiet though. A knocking cat is not very loud at all.

[Felandria]

Mostly chickeny! That's the important part!
Honeysuckle does have a weakness for birds.

She stops, halfway through her ninth spoonful of the meal, to say a casual blessing over the fried rice. "Thanks, goddess, for the lunch. And I guess, also. Thanks to Fel, as a demigoddess, but also you literally helped cook..."
"Anyway. Eat up."

She nods to Felandria confirming the time; it's a date.
And then, once the food is finished and she has a moment to really answer, "I'll see you then!"

Well, thank you mostly of all, Honeysuckle.

This was delicious.

And I’ll see you tomorrow. :D

- - - Updated - - -

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt yawns and stretches, paws curling against the sofa. Once awake, Rein hops down and heads towards Felandria's Office.

Does he knock?
He does.
It's pretty quiet though. A knocking cat is not very loud at all.

Fel is sitting in her office, perusing a cookbook.

Come on in :)

[Reinholdt]

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt enters, closing the door behind him before walking over and hopping up on one side of her desk. "Are you preparing for a hot date?" Reinholdt asks, wondering if that's what the cookbook is for.

[Felandria]

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt enters, closing the door behind him before walking over and hopping up on one side of her desk. "Are you preparing for a hot date?" Reinholdt asks, wondering if that's what the cookbook is for.

Nah, just trying to learn stuff.

Believe me, I wish I was readying for a date, it’s been a bit.

There was this one girl I met in Civvy’s Place, but I never heard back from her.

I dunno, maybe I scare them off.......

[Reinholdt]

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt frowns. "Listen. Ninety-five percent of people are waiting. They want, and hope, and bide patiently, waiting for someone to care enough about them or have enough interest in them to ask them out. They're not looking for love, they're hoping for significant attention and conflating the two. You're probably doing it yourself."

Rein holds up a paw so Felandria doesn't get mad. "No shame in it. Nothing wrong with it. It's just the way people are. But when you get two people who have that affliction bad enough, you get two people interested in each other and neither of them making a move because they both desire the other to desire them enough to move first. Your best bet is to throw away that sense of self, and go call her and ask about a date. If she accepts, you've made her day. If she refuses, she was never interested in the first place and it won't keep you in a pining limbo."

Relationship advice from Reinholdt is guaranteed to be the worst and should be ignored.

[Mee]

[Medical Bay]

Deep inside the dusty, unused Medical Bay, a being shuffles, as if waking up.
And then shuffles some more, because shuffling is fun, okay.

This being fights through layers and layers of dust in order to get to the lightswitch.
With a near deafening boom in the stillness of the room, the switch is flipped, and the high humming of the lights reverberate through the air.

"Goodness this is a lot of dust." It mumbles, before setting about with the strongest vacuum that could be found in the closet full of "AAA SPIDERWEBS"

[Recaiden]

HALO's newest member is poking around the disused laboratory, wading through the layers of dust, the closets full of unused lab coats, the dusty beakers.
I think she had hoped to do some science.
Well, engineering at least.
Well, maybe just tinkering.

But machinery and optics were going to be involved, honest!
Surely the science rooms were the place to start!

[Felandria]

[Felandria's Office]

Reinholdt frowns. "Listen. Ninety-five percent of people are waiting. They want, and hope, and bide patiently, waiting for someone to care enough about them or have enough interest in them to ask them out. They're not looking for love, they're hoping for significant attention and conflating the two. You're probably doing it yourself."

Rein holds up a paw so Felandria doesn't get mad. "No shame in it. Nothing wrong with it. It's just the way people are. But when you get two people who have that affliction bad enough, you get two people interested in each other and neither of them making a move because they both desire the other to desire them enough to move first. Your best bet is to throw away that sense of self, and go call her and ask about a date. If she accepts, you've made her day. If she refuses, she was never interested in the first place and it won't keep you in a pining limbo."

Relationship advice from Reinholdt is guaranteed to be the worst and should be ignored.

Felandria shrugs and sighs.

I guess you’re right, it couldn’t hurt.

So, what’s up on the Reinholdt front?

[Reinholdt]

[Felandria's Office]

"Right." Well, on with it then. Reinholdt gets back off the desk and stops being a cat for a while. Being a flaming hot human has its advantages. Namely in holding up presentation cards.

The first card has a trio of identically drawn, if badly drawn cats on them, each with labels: HALO, GLoG, Vigil. "So far one of the issues brought up is how do we distinguish ourselves from the other groups?"

Rein switches to the next card which has three pictures, not drawings, of cats he found on the Internet. One snuggling, one with combat gear, and one in a science like outfit. All ridiculous looking. "So if we think about each group's main focus, we learn how to specialize. GLoG is the heart. Their job is to heal and to comfort. Vigil is the brawn. They go out and beat the things up that need a good punch to the face. So I think, we should be the brain." Rein's argument holds a little less weight when utilizing meme cats to get the point across. The next poster picture of a normal old brain isn't helping.

"We have remarkable facilities for labwork, and a solid library that would entice anyone with those interests. When there needs to be an investigation into the origins of a plague or how to close a temporal anomaly or even researching an ancient evil to find its weak point, people should think of HALO. Now, I mean, that's not to say there won't ever be overlap. GLoG occasionally punches people, Vigil likely does legwork of its own, and if we're digging in ruins to translate in ancient text, we'll have to be prepared to defend ourselves too. But if we establish ourselves in this niche, we could theoretically solidly support the other groups with the Intel we find while furthering our own name."

Rein sets the cards aside. "Of course, we would have to target our recruitment as well, looking for top tier scientists, researchers, and magicians interested primarily in the betterment of the world. There's bound to be leftover nerds out there from all those start up magic colleges and towers that failed, and I've got a bead on at least one impressive scientist that leans more for the tech side of things which pairs better with our facilities. What do you think?"

[Felandria]

Felandria grins broadly.

I love everything about that!

You’re exactly right, we don’t compete with GLoG or VIGIL, we all focus on one thing and work together when we need to, it’s fantastic.

And yeah, we can find other scientists and magicians and such.

I taught at Zafflebrod’s for a bit, I could be a professor again!

Well done, Rein!