Respite

[lysoke]

Respite

The lake is dark and calm with a small breeze by the time they arrive at its shores. The stars above reflect perfectly in the still waters before them, and a small copse of trees lines one side, starting on their side of the river and jumping along the other side.

Chris takes a moment to re-prepare the spell he hadn't been able to cast in five years and gestures vaguely to the area around them as a suggestion for what the others can do. Gathering in the forest, sitting on a nearby over-turned log, it didn't matter to him. What he needed was an hour without interruption.

He settles down on the ground and presses his hands together as he closes his eyes to focus on the image in his mind. Within minutes, the white, shimmering outline of a large building forms in thin air. The gentle glow of its light barely spreads from the growing structure.

As promised, it takes the full hour before the slowly filling-in form is complete and finishes with a jaunty, echoing click.

Chris takes a breath, now sitting in front of the stoop that looks annoyingly like the one he'd passed earlier in the night, and gets back onto stiff legs as the glow fades away, leaving smooth, but otherwise unremarkable, white stone behind.

"Here we are. Home for the next however long we need. I'll start working on food and water next." Once they're inside, anyway, which is why he takes back his things from where he'd left them and leads them into the temple, marked only with the carving of ravens on the black wood of the double doors.

Inside is something just shy of opulence. The same polished white stone makes the walls, though black and gold veins course through the marble. The floor is the inverse, a black stone with white, shimmering speckles like a night sky if looked at for long enough. A single window faced East high up on the wall. The temple was alight with sconces at regular intervals along the walls, illuminating an open area that held all the offerings of comfort Chris could think of.

A large hot-springs-like bath, complete with a miniature waterfall, took up the left side of the room and ran into a smaller, similar bath at dog-height. Next to it, covered by a retractable screen, was a shower. Along the back wall, a raven's head emblazoned the white wall in black and watched out over a set of tables, chairs, and a couple of sofas. The majority of the center was clear for walking, but the right edge and right side of the room held a deeply inset pit of pillows, cushions, and blankets in various soft (black and purple) fabrics.

Finally, in the middle of the right-hand wall, there were two closed doors that, when inspected, revealed one room with a large, soft chair and rug, while the other room was made of nothing but stone with jars, pitchers, and plates on shelves along two walls and a cork wall perfect for catching daggers on the other side.

"I hope it works for everyone. I didn't...I didn't make separate bedrooms this time. I didn't figure we would need them tonight."

♥

Comments

[wolfehawke]

"Fair," he replies, gently bumping her back with a quick movement, winking at her. "Though if my only pair of pants gets ruined in the Shadowfel its going to be a very dire bit of tailoring."

As for Chris and Jon in the shower together he makes no comment. He's not jealous, not of that, but... perhaps simply of the closeness. He should be grateful for the ease he has with Amelia, the way she'd brought the sun out again, and he is. Its no time to be bothered by how he'd left things with Chris. He said he needed a few days, so he needs a few days. Wolfe shouldn't be greedy.

Dammit, this isn't what he wanted to dwell on. Shaking his head to clear it, Wolfe lifts the spoon from the pot to taste. "Pretty good for having no spices or vegetables, if bland. What do you think?"

He offers it to Amelia, his hand cupped under the spoons bottom to make sure it doesn't drip anywhere.

[rogueinladysclothing]

There's something about how he changes the subject suddenly that makes her wonder if there's something more on his mind that she should ask about. As he's said nothing and they've already had one difficult conversation, she chooses to believe everything is all right or that he would bring it up if there were more to it.

She leans forward and blows on the liquid in the spoon for a moment before sipping. "Very good for having nothing to add to it but the meat." She smiles warmly up at him. "I imagine your cooking is only going to get better once we have more for you to use. You may even get tired of all the ingredients I intend to ply you with. I may not be able to cook, but I do know what I like in my food."

Is that a challenge? A threat? Probably a bit of both.

[wolfehawke]

"Oh no, not just mine. You're finally going to break that kitchen curse now that we're here." He points at her with the spoon accusingly, a playful grin on his face. "I have nothing and no one else to focus on once we get settled, so you're going to be making serviceable food in a year or two and having chickens begging you for mercy."

Its a silly image, one he hopes will make her laugh even if she might have misgivings about his decleration.

[rogueinladysclothing]

It does make her laugh, and also cringe. "I hope you understand what you're signing up for. What Aloïs said about me making people sick? That wasn't entirely from memory. I tried to help him make something at the city apartment once and had us both retching for over a day."

The lady is full of poise and cleverness, but that does nothing for her kitchen skills.

[wolfehawke]

"We'll start small. Vegetable soup, dumplings. We could work up to potato handpies and other things that won't make us ill if they come out poorly. I'm not letting you near meat or eggs until you're ready." Not since he's learned about things like salmonella.

"We could start with bread? I've had a hankering for a good fresh-baked loaf of bread for days." It was such a weird want when he'd been imprisoned. Did he want his freedom? His loves? To not have sex for at least a week? Of course, but above all he wanted a just-from-the-oven soft inside, crunchy outside loaf of bread with half-melted butter to smear on it.

[rogueinladysclothing]

She will keep to herself that several of 'her' attempts to cook included no meat and still got everyone in the House sick. He has the right idea to start with something that's harder to fuck up.

"I have no idea how to make it. I've never tried or paid attention to someone who was making it before. Warm bread is a nice thing to have." It also requires no spices or herbs, which will make it very easy to make in any temple Chris conjures for them.

[wolfehawke]

"I used to know. There's yeast involved. Flour, obviously, and water. I think thats all? Unless we want to make it sweet with honey or put savory herbs in it," he muses, leaning against the counter and looking up as he thinks.

"You mix everything then let the dough rise. Once its risen, you bake it." Surely its that simple. He remembers it being when his mother showed him as a child. "I'll see if I can get an actual recipe somewhere when we get to a town."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"Maybe Chris can teach us the finer points. He's very adept at baking." Or so she thinks given the ease with which he makes various cakes. She huffs a laugh. "He might even enjoy it, if only to make fun when we manage to cause trouble." An inevitable thing when she's involved.

[wolfehawke]

"That would be a fun thing to do together," Wolfe agrees with a pleased smile, intentionally missing the wry tone to Amelia's suggestion. Honestly its things like that - family activities - that Wolfe has wanted to do with his partners for a very long time. They just could never live in all the same space.

"We can prepare food together, all four of us, and eat meals, and even wind down in the evenings with our various activities. I'll have to find something quiet to do that isnt going to bother everyone though. I'm not... the most adept at that." He likes to be social with his loved ones too much for quiet personal activity.