Stories and hobbies and other ways to pass the time

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity's in her favorite seat in the forum, drinking coffee and trying to read a book that's frustrating her. It isn't long before she puts it down with a scowl aimed at the cover (or possibly the concept of books). "Does anyone understand Norse mythology? Is that a thing? Because I do not get it."

"Alternately, any suggestions for hobbies for someone with lots of time and few skills? Preferably things that aren't group activities."

((A note about Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately.))

Comments

[aw_hawkguy]

"Have you tried darts? It's fun on your own, or with friends." Hey, everybody, it's Hawkguy! "Good for frustration, too."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Oh yes, give me sharp little pointy things. That's a great idea when I've had a bad day." You know that look she keeps giving you, Clint? She's giving it to you again. "Is that supposed to be the gateway hobby to taking up archery?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well, y'know, archery's good too. Not as easy to do in your apartment without, like, setting up." Clint gives one of his patented Barton smiles. "But throwing little pointy things when you've had a bad day is the point."

[brave_heart_verity]

She can't help but roll her eyes at that one. It's a contractual obligation. "And now you bring me puns. What did I do to deserve this?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"You asked for tips?" Now, he can't help himself.

[ixis]

The Nexus' resident ugly wizard shows up like a creep, looming right behind her to read over her shoulder, maybe peep what the cover is. Rude.

"I'd offer to teach you some magic, but your disdain for study might make you a poor match."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Gah!" Yes, scare the nice(ish) lady who tried to help you. Great plan!

"I don't hate studying. I'm just not sure I have the right temperament for magic. What kind would you teach me?"

[ixis]

He doesn't even register that that Verity being startled. He just reaches past her to try and pick up the book she'd put down.

"You certainly seem to hate it. That face you made wasn't exactly joyful in education and reading."

A shrug at the inquiry of magic. "Ixian magicks. Perhaps start with one element, see how you fare. Poorly, I'd wager." He's so encouraging.

[brave_heart_verity]

She lets him take it. It's a dense and scholarly work on Norse mythology, the sort of thing really hardcore nerds like.

"Are you always this friendly, or are you making a special effort just for me?"

[ixis]

"What?" He leans back away so he can open and thumb through the pages, somehow carefully holding it in his crab-claw. Apparently, he's just always, uh, brusque. "It's an intensive craft; a great deal of concentration and discipline. Why, do you think you have what it takes? If you had to choose an element, which would it be?"

He pauses to read a passage on Örvar-Oddr's account of the Lyngbakr. Hmm!

[damn_yourself_early]

"I have insights on the subject!" Kid Loki crows, beaming.

[brave_heart_verity]

"I would hope so." She toes the book in his direction. "Can you make sense of this? Because it's all reading to me like lies and also lies."

She would permit his coming to sit next to her. There might be a chance of cuddles for the kid, but mostly because he's small and innocent-looking. And also she's still not sure where his "off' button is and this way she'll already have an arm around him if when he gets a bad idea.

[damn_yourself_early]

Sit he shall. He won't lean right up against her, but he will try to peek at the book. "Well, you're getting this through several layers of editorial meddling. If someone drew mustaches on a bunch of portraits, someone else cut those portraits up into puzzles, gave half the pieces to a third person, who put them into a cannon and shot them at a printing press, you'd get a similar idea of what the portraits were, originally."

[brave_heart_verity]

Hey if he doesn't want cuddles that's on him. Or possibly Ikol.

"That makes a disturbing amount of sense, but it doesn't help me understand. You explain it? You're good at stories." And there's the unspoken promise of ice-cream-shaped rewards at the end. He knows how well-stocked her freezer is.

[damn_yourself_early]

"Well, which part do you want to know? The full mythic and historic eddas are, well, kind of long."

He does, indeed, know a thing or two about the contents of her freezer, as well as the rewards a teller of tales can expect from a grateful audience.

[sumarusfinest]

Oh! It's that nice lady who offered him coffee the other day and calmed him down after getting dumped in an ever shifting dimension of crazy. Katsuya remembers Ms. Willis. But, as he sadly has no knowledge of Norse mythology save for the summoning of magical creatures to destroy demons, he does not approach her right away, waiting instead for a moment when she's alone once more.

When he finally does approach, he slips a few pieces of paper into her hand. Recipe cards, the ink still wet on them and painstakingly written in such proper English that he may have very well used a ruler.

"I, myself, take great comfort from baking. I figured you'd want to start simply, but.." He's quiet, but actually seems to be excited at the prospect of talking to her.

(Katsuya is the worst liar, so it's safe to assume he's telling the truth unless otherwise stated.)

[brave_heart_verity]

There are suddenly papers in her hand. Inky papers, which she holds carefully to avoid smudging anything. Katsuya gets a smile when she looks up from them. She motions an invitation for him to sit, if he'd like, before glancing down at the recipes again.

"These look really good, thank you. Cooking is an excellent kind of science, I think, because you get to eat something yummy when you're done. How're you?"

[sumarusfinest]

He pauses awkwardly, glancing from the seat to her as though wondering if it's really okay. He does accept it though, getting increasingly pleased that she hadn't scoffed at the suggestion.

"They're simple, and uhm...all but one of them are American sweets. The last one is a personal favorite of mine, but it's Japanese." Katsuya points to the cards as he talks, nearly forgetting she asked him a question in his quiet excitement to talk about baking. Verity has no idea what she has started.

"Oh, uhm...Me?" He clears his throat. "I've been...adjusting well. A friend of mine apparently called me here, so." He shrugs slightly. "He's...just that way. It does help that this is not my first time here."

[brave_heart_verity]

She gives him an approving little nod when he sits down. It's really fine with her, so long as there's no actual touching. She likes people nearby but not in her personal space.

Hey, it's all good with her, she loves to cook. It helps pass the time, and like she said, there's food at the end. She flips to the last card, looking it over. "Hmm. I'll start with this one then. It'll be fun to try something new."

She waves the cards a bit to help the ink dry while he's talking. "Oh, you've been here before? That must help. And having a friend waiting for you. You're lucky."

[sumarusfinest]

"You wouldn't say that if you met Baofu." Its enough to make Katsuya sigh in irritation, but he did call the impossible man his friend, so it's clear despite his disapproval they get along okay.

"But yes, I was here...or someplace very much like this a long...long time ago." There's a story there somewhere, but that's for another time. "You seem to know a lot of people here though, so I'd say you're doing well."

[thesmashingthunder]

Hobby? Pikachu shifted from where he'd been napping, ears twitching in Verity's direction. What did he do in his spare time? He napped. He sometimes helped power machinery. He liked to take apart said machinery too. Basically if there was a gadget or gizmo presented to the electric mouse, he would find some way to have fun with it.

Spotting the book, he sneaked up and poked his head juuuust over the table. Then sniffed at it. Pleh. No power in there. But there was a picture on the front. Using both hands, he tried to inch it towards him and peek inside. No pictures inside. What a stupid thing!

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity watches the bright yellow... okay she's not sure what it is other than cute and interested in her book maybe. She's really not prepared for this level of cute, so there's plenty of time for book-inspecting before she says anything. "Hey there little guy. You like books? It's not a very fun one."

[thesmashingthunder]

At her voice he jumped, immediately crouching. But oh, she didn't sound mad that he was poking at her book. He peeked up at her, then relaxed and put it down. "Pi." He preferred picture books to the ones with lots of words. Unless someone was reading to him, then they were quite nice. Oh, there was something he liked ot do that didn't get him into any trouble ever! He ran off and shortly returned.

He hopped up beside her, lifting a hand in greeting. Well there was one thing he liked, and he'd clearly brought it to show her; a collection of hats were with him. A party hat, goggles, several caps, headbands and even three faded neckerchiefs, similar to those boy scouts would wear. Looking at her and thinking, he picked up the red cap and motioned for her to wear it.

[brave_heart_verity]

She's not annoyed. He's cute and hasn't hurt anything. She's a little confused when he runs off, and even more when he comes back with a pile of hats.

"Oh, that's a nice collection." She'll look them all over with a good-natured sort of humoring, and when offered the red cap she'll take it. "I think it'll be a little small for me, little guy."

But yes, she'll put it on. Anything that seems young and innocent to her gets indulged.

[thesmashingthunder]

Still good! He put on the small glasses that went with it, to match her own. He then offered her one of the faded pieces of cloth. "Pika!" Could she tie her hair back with it? He used to tie some of them around his ear. He hopped on the back of her chair, touching it to her hair. He didn't know how to tie it though.