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yentotajaan · 3 years

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Starlight: an Unexpected Lesson

Word of the Week: Starlight

Baking was not exactly something that Yen’to counted among his skills, but he felt a little obligated to get into the Starlight spirit and this seemed as good a chance as any. Khan had posted a message saying he was hosting a baking class and that the resulting cookies would be given to some needy orphans. Not sure why he is hosting this, but whatever. At least it will not involve getting shot at by Garleans... I hope.

Yen’to and Fehri arrived nearly simultaneously to the Shroudrose lobby, just in time to witness Khan throwing up into one of the planters. Oh gods... well, we are certainly off to a wonderful start. Kaia at least made her way inside late enough to miss the overly warm greeting, followed immediately by Kiari. Without further ado, Khan led them all to the kitchen to begin the lesson.

Khan pulled out a stack of papers that looked like they had all been licked by a goobbue, moist and barely held together. He declared that it was some sort of goblin recipe. Yen’to idly wondered if it was written by Cloudthoughts, the skipper of Khan’s boat who was also present, for some reason. Khan fumbled about the kitchen cabinets, pulling out some supplies for everyone as he read aloud the initial ingredients. Yellow goop? White and brown... poop? Is that supposed to be butter and sugars?

With their supplies all laid out on the counter, it was time to get to work. Which apparently meant punching the butter into submission with one’s bare fist, if Khan was anything to go by. He followed by pouring in heaps of brown and white sugar without even bothering to measure them. The savage - there are plenty of tools to use! Even if I do not know what half of them are, myself. Yen’to leaned over to glance towards Fehri’s side of the counter, and decided to do his best to copy her since she happened to own an actual bakery. At least someone here is competent, hmph.

Moving on to the next step, Yen’to and the others watched with growing horror as Khan began dumping eggs into his bowl - shells and all. He claimed that they added crunch, but Fehri was having none of that nonsense and scolded him, ordering him to remove the shell bits. Clearly, this “class” is being led by the wrong person. I guess I should be glad he has not tried slipping in fogweed... yet. Yen’to soon began regretting not working next to Fehri, like Kaia was smart enough to do. His and Kiari’s batter were looking a bit on the sad side, but still were in better shape than Khan’s clumpy monstrosity.

Finally, it was time to dole out the batter onto sheets to bake in the oven. Even though the kitchen had a perfectly functional stove, Khan strove to stick to the recipe and had Cloudthoughts bring in a different, more specialized one one. Everyone stopped and stared with a mixture of fascination and disbelief as the goblin brought in a rather animated Bomb in a cage, with a solid piece of metal in top to function as a cooking surface. Is that... a bomb?! I thought those explode when they get too hot! Lady Faye is going to kill us if that explodes and we manage to survive!

Despite the objections from everyone else, Khan insisted on baking his cookies on the bomb stovetop. Yen’to and Kaia opted to give their batter to Fehri to use with the non-exploding oven.; except Kiari, who simply stared at her cookie dough chocolate soup in wonderment. Without warning, Cloudthoughts began insulting the bomb to get it to heat up. All eyes turned to watch as it starting growing rather large and hot; it slowly dawned on them that it was getting a little too hot. Leth and Alyona arrived just in time to observe the unfolding disaster with more than a little bemusement. If I die here, I am killing Khan! ... although the bomb will do that well enough, actually.

Khan promptly advised that they needed to compliment it to get it to cool off. The initial attempts were nearly foiled by Yen’to’s accidental insults, but Kiari managed to get it back down to size by... asking it on a date? Khan’s cookies were burnt to a crisp, but in the meantime Fehri had been dutifully finishing up the other batches. Those looked and smelled like something someone could actually eat. The group made some small talk as Khan went to fetch some chocobos, and before long were off with baskets of cookies to dole out to some lucky(?) orphans.

The trip was much longer than expected, since the orphans that Khan referred to resided in the refugee camp just outside Ul’dah. Gods it is so hot... this is what I get for wearing my Starlight coat. Khan seemed quite familiar with the refugees, and led the group over to several clumpings of ragtag-looking Ala Mhigans. They split up to dole out the cookies amongst the refugees, rapidly earning the attention of a bunch of children. Soon, even adults were crowding around for their share of cookies, a few of which looked like they hadn’t eaten in days. I must admit... it does feel good to be making so many people happy. They probably have not had any such generosity from the Ul’dan citizens.

The giving and mingling was rudely interrupted by an incoming barrage of sandballs. Khan’s group scattered for cover, with varying degrees of success, as a gang of children declared war on them. Yen’to usually disliked children, but perhaps because of the holiday mood he instead took up arms to begin hurling back sandballs of his own instead of angrily berating them. Most of the others followed suit, although there was a brief pause while everyone watched with concern as Fehri’s mammet tased one of the kids with a jolt of electricity. Kiari’s eyes were also glowing dangerously red, but Khan quickly de-escalated the situation by clarifying it was all a game. Even I knew that much!

The pretend war raged on for quite some time, with volleys of sandballs flying back and forth. However, it ended as suddenly as it began when a curmudgeonly old woman emerged from a tent brandishing a sandal in one hand, demanding to know what in the hells was going on. The kids promptly scattered like dust in the wind. Well, that is the end of that. Hm... that was actually kind of fun. Not that I will admit that out loud.

Yen’to glanced around the camp, and the pleasant chatter and happy expressions seemed to indicate that they had done their job well. Khan may be a drunken idiot, but I guess he is not -all- bad. Hard to know if he does something right on purpose or by accident, though. This mission may not have ended with any extra pay, but Yen’to considered the rewards worth it all the same.

Then he paused, and glanced down at his sand covered clothes. ... It is going to take a least three baths to get all this sand off, damn it.

@teahousetales

#ffxiv #rp #balmung #Khaaaaaan #starlight #shenanigans

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cl0u-dani-blog · 8 years

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I tried to jump off a bridge the other night. I would've been a stupid mistake, I realize that now. I was upset though. Over guys. Girls. Friends, enemies, family. I was so mad because the world is awful, sexism and racism exist. Politicians can make fun of the disabled and get away with it. Fires and towns can burn away and no one cares. The corrupt rule, psychopaths and sociopaths reign through terror. If that wasn't enough, the world was gonna end anyways, resources run out, and maybe, with out luck, a solar flare would burn us away. The compassionate, philanthropists, become matyrs, if their names and causes ever do make it out. If they don't die by the hands of he gorvernment, they die by their own. Ironically, why I empathize with them most of all, how can people so good and pure live in this world? I love the word remember. Simply the act of remembering so many good things in life, even the bad, because to see healing take place is uplifting. Standing on the bridge, starring down, I wanted a sign to keep living. I couldn't remember happiness. Not my cat, soft and sharp, expecting me to feed her treats, since I'm the only one who does so. I didn't remember my mom, the first time I heard from my doctor how proud my mother was of me. How much that simple statement made me cry, made my throat choke, because my mother's love was as deep as the ocean and as bright as the sun. I couldn't, didn't think of my father, the man who raised me despite me not really being his kid, the man who's coat I'd fall asleep in if he left for weeks for work trips. I didn't remember my brother, my little brother whom looks up to me, who is close to me, and though we fight, we love each other deeply. Had I left, he'd have to worry taking care of our parents himself. How could he, when he's just as upset as I am? I only thought if cruelty, not of kindness. I could only think of slavery, shootings, terrorism, and not of the abolishments of them, how courageous people had to be to overcome that. How motivated, full of love they must've been. I forgot every hero, people who died again and again, to give something, no matter how small and insignificant, something that could move the hearts of every human being. Staring down at the water, I only thought of how much it might hurt, but that pain was worth the release of another. I don't want to say what else happened that night. I will say, I heard no words of comfort from friend or family. I strained, but if spirits were telling me to walk away, I didn't hear. Two men walked by, maybe best friends, told me not to jump, but kept walking, so as their words echoed in my mind I knew it was completely my own choice, it had always been mine. I walked away though. Walking in the door, my mother answered. Told me to be careful next time I go out late. My father, the next morning, was proud to show me our completed deck. My brother was eager to talk about politics and human rights with me, while our cat flopped at his feet. I made plans with best friends. It took awhile to get my feet to leave the bed, they felt chained as I forced them over the side. I headed to my program, remembering how funny my new friends were. I forgave the people who did me wrong. I learned more of my culture. My gifts. I played piano, remembered every scale, remembered what it was like to run, lungs and legs burning almost as much as my heart felt free. Remembered the feelig if stretching, praying, showing gratitude, remembered what is was like to love learning and to let go of the past and to experience every emotion, every sense, more intensely, more appreciatingly. I want to be a doctor. And a teacher. I want to study the space, stars, galaxies, discuss morality and ethics and the need to explore. I want to take in every book, every single word, imprint it in my mind, see the buildings in other countries just like other worlds, see the universe through someone else's eyes, help the helpless and defend the defenseless, fight for what's right, keep an open mind. I want to change the world with the world that is within in me, that's what I remember. If I die tomorrow, I want to be remembered for such things, and I do want to remember such things. I remember how to live.

#positivity #suicide #life #cloudthoughts

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