sixthiterationlogs | [MINGLE] Harvest Feast 🍂

[MINGLE] Harvest Feast 🍂

WHERE: 6I Inn
WHEN: 10 November, all day
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE POST
NOTE: Details can be found here.

In the wee hours of November 10th, before even the earliest risers have roused themselves for another day, items begin to appear in the front room of the Inn. Decorations first — Boughs of autumn leaves in their reds and golds, wreaths of dried flowers and silken ribbon, flickering candles among the goards and berries and acorns. The food arrives next, the decadent aroma slipping up the Inn stairs to tempt those lingering in bed — Every imaginable harvest time delicacy, from roast turkey and ham to smoked salmon and oysters; fresh, soft bread warm from the oven to plum pudding and ice cream. And did we mention pie?

Once again, it's time for a feast. The bar is stocked, the coffee is brewed and the tables are groaning with food. Indulge, there's more than enough for everyone — That is, if you don't lose your appetite worrying about what it will all cost.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Not dying? Putting up with weird shit?" I answer with a shrug. "I'm just guessing. But this is the third time this has happened, and the first two times nobody got so much as food poisoning."

Granted, there's an argument to be made for our captors lulling us into complacency, but I think if they put us here to kill us, they'd have come up with something long before now.

"I'll eat some of it first, if you want." The only reason I hadn't had more than the coffee was just because I'm more of a mid-morning breakfast sort of guy. It takes a little while for me to get hungry.

"Maybe they are saving it for the fourth time."

She might be being a little glib but the mention of death makes Bela nervous. Have people actually died here? As for the weird shit...well, she's seen quite a lot of that back home but who knows what kind of weird shit this place could come up with. They're both thoughts that she is going to save for later. Not now.

"You'd do that for a complete stranger? Okay then. Go ahead." If he was offering then she wasn't going to tell him otherwise. At least it will give Bela some reassurance that the food was safe to eat.

I don't think they're saving it for the fourth time, although this probably isn't the moment to mention how the we topped off the first time with a dead body. I don't think that was coincidence, but I also know the food had nothing to do with it.

"I was going to do it anyway," I reply with a shrug, and set aside my coffee cup to grab one of the plates stacked atop the various tables. "It usually takes me awhile to get hungry in the mornings," I explain with a glance back over my shoulder, and offer a smile. "I work up to it. What's your name?"

As someone who didn't always keep sociable hours back home, her eating times could vary. Bela probably didn't eat enough either, but when she was busy trying to keep people from coming after her, it didn’t give her much of a chance to settle and actually enjoy her food.

"Bela. Bela Talbot." She says, deciding that giving him her full name would be just fine. He didn't know her, and well, it's not like it was her real name. "And yours?"

Returning the smile because it couldn't hurt to appear friendly.

"Mark Watney," I reply, and pause, lifting a forkful of green beans from the dab on my plate so that she can see it before I take the bite and make a soft, appreciative sound as I chew.

"God, I miss salt," I say after swallowing. "We get it from time to time, but it never lasts long enough. You get used to not having it, and then you eat something like this and remember what you're missing."

If anybody up there is listening, more salt would not go amiss. And ketchup.

"Good to meet you, Mark." Bela replies amiably, assuming that it was good to meet him. He hasn't given her a reason otherwise. She watches carefully as he eats the green beans, waiting to see if there was a bad reaction. Satisfied that there wasn't, she approaches the table.

"Salt is something I can take or leave. I don't think I'd miss it." Besides, didn't they need the salt for preserving the food? She remembers Moana telling her something about that. Bela reaches for a plate and considers her options. Vegetables would be good vitamin wise but also meat. A mixture would suffice.

"Where are you from?" Bela asks conversationally, spooning some of the green beans onto her plate.

"Houston, Texas," I answer, and after a beat, add, "That's on Earth, in case you're one of our few from more far-flung places." There haven't been many of them, but I've spent enough time around Nerys to remember to check myself when these conversations inevitably happen.

"Yourself?"

"England. In the south." Though she doesn't live there now. "Also on Earth." Bela clarifies for him, now adding a potato beside the green beans.

"I've never been to Texas before. Is it nice?" Still keeping on with the conversation, even if it's more like small talk at this point. Bela could ask him something more important about the village, but she holds off for now.

"It's not bad," I reply with a slight shrug. "Honestly, I don't think I would choose to live there if not for work, but I don't mind it. The people are friendly, and I'd gotten used to it."

Enough that I stayed when I could have gone just about anywhere I wanted. I'd had job offers from literally every continent. I'd even had offers that would have let me move somewhere else and stay working for NASA, but Houston let me stay in the thick of things, even if I was only going to be a lowly professor.

"I worked for the Space Administration," I clarify, and nod Bela's way. "Did you work?"

"I did, yes." Bela says, deciding to take some more of the green beans. "Self employed really. Working on behalf of clients who paid me to source rare antiquities for their personal collection."

Her answer was as close to the truth that Mark was going to get. Bela doesn't know him well enough to disclose what she really did for a living back home and even if she did, it wasn't something that Bela would be keen to bring up.

"Space Administration. Now that sounds like an interesting career."

"It was," I agree, and settle back into a chair. I don't have much on my plate, just a few dabs really, but I'll probably graze all day. "I spent several years in space, but before here, I was teaching candidates for the space program, which was interesting in a different way. It sounds like you went some interesting places yourself, if you were looking for antiquities. I imagine that's a good job if you like to travel a lot."

"That's amazing." Suffice to say Bela has never met anyone who's been up to space before let alone teach anyone about it. She's also being genuine with her comment, fascinated by what he just told her. "I have travelled to some interesting places, yeah. Not so long ago I was in the Middle East. But it also depends on where my clients need me to go to get them what they want. I'm primarily based in the United States."

"When you say antiquities, are you talking about finding other dealers who have what you need, or more archeaological?" I didn't ask when she's from, so it's possible she's been able to play Indiana Jones, however problematic that might be.

"I've actually never been to the Middle East," I muse. "I did some traveling when I finally got back to Earth, but that was one place I missed. There's a lot of history there."

"No, nothing to do with archaeology. I've never been at a dig site, trying to retrieve historical artifacts from the dirt." Bela laughs, a little amused. "The first one is correct. I seek out other dealers."

Well, it was only partially the truth. With a few omissions.

"Mhm, you're right. There is such a wealth of history in that part of the world. I liked it." She got a good deal out of it. "Where have you been, then?"

"Just about everywhere else," I reply on a laugh. "I basically did a world tour for NASA. All over Europe. China, Japan, Australia, South Africa. They were good enough to give me some time to actually see most of the places I stopped, too, which was nice since they were footing the bill." Not that the publicity they got from my Martian jaunt didn't pay for that trip a hundred times over.

"How are you adjusting, being here? Not that you don't seem like you are, but I'm sure it's tough going from flying all over the world to being stuck here."

'Tough' was an apt word. Just when Bela thought she was figuring things out and her plan was coming together she was unexpectedly taken from her world and dumped in a place with out of date technology and strangers.

"That's an excellent question." One that required a short while to think about on how to best answer it. "I think I'm doing alright. Although, I am slightly concerned about the upcoming winter months and how to cope with them. Back home I could just fly off to a warmer climate throughout those months. Here, I don't have much of a choice."

"Well, unless we get a massive surge of newbies, we should be okay. I've been working with Gaius, he looks after the stores, keeps track of things. It's looking good at least as far as rations for food and firewood are concerned." I smile, tilting my head. "Of course, I realize that 'good' is relative, and for most people the bar is probably a little higher than not starving or freezing to death."

The people who were here last winter, they'll probably just be glad things have improved. The new folks... well, most of them probably have a big adjustment coming.

She let out a laugh at that, feeling bemused. "Normally, the bar would be set a little higher for me but I'll settle for having enough food and firewood to survive." It wasn't like the village was awash with luxuries to make the experience more pleasant for her.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." If she wanted to come off as someone who was willing to work with others, Bela had to say something.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[MINGLE] Harvest Feast 🍂

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject