Sibling Rivalries: Chili Edition

[brave_heart_verity]

Flyers have been going up around the Forum and Commercial District for the last week or so. This morning,the lights in the VSW Meadhall came on. By noon, anyone getting close enough to an open door would know: chili's on!

Inside, everything's set up and waiting for the hungry and the curious: Clint's cooking in one corner, and Verity's in the other. Between them, tables are laid out with the necessities: bowls, plates, spoons, and plenty of napkins. There's beer and iced tea, some lovely tres leches cakes provided by the Nexus' favorite Japanese detective, and various toppings for the chili: bottles of sriracha and sweet Thai chili sauce, red pepper flakes, green onions and red, lime wedges, diced bell peppers and jalapeños, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. Cornbread and tortilla chips round things out.

Long tables with a mix of benches and chairs fill the hall on either side of the fire pits. One has board and card games stacked neatly at one end (they were neat when they were put out, at least). Another has two boxes, one wrapped in purple paper and one in pink, for depositing voting slips.

Poll #17301 1st Annual Chili Cook-Off

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

View Respondents

Who gets your vote?

View Answers

Clint--Avengers Assemble!
3 (42.9%)

Truthfully? Verity.
4 (57.1%)

The fire pits are lit, the food is waiting, and there are games in want of players. What are you waiting for?
((There will doubtless be further Cupid-based shenanigans, but this weekend, it's all about the platonic relationships. Bromances, BFFs, and family ties rule the day! Let's celebrate! Threadhopping, tangents, games, and mischief are all encouraged. Just don't start a food fight or Verity will have to yell.))

Comments

[off_the_air]

Katsuya's shyness and hesitance doesn't go unnoticed by Radio, who takes advantage of his averted gaze to look at him. She can take in the sight of him quickly, and by the time he's speaking to her again she averts her eyes as well.

"It is a little sweet. Maybe a little sweeter knowing it was made by my favorite officer." She winks and goes for another bite. When it's through she adds, "But I don't get sweetness very often, so this is a nice treat."

[sumarusfinest]

If she's teasing him it's going right over his head. She can hear the whooshing sound even.He raises an eyebrow and shakes his head.

"How often are you on the wrong side of the law if I'm your favorite officer? I'm not in your jurisdiction. Or is that the point?" Is he teasing her back? On an entirely unrelated topic, but perhaps.

"Western sweets are usually much sweeter than ones I'm used to making." He admits. "So this is on the sweet side for me either way.

[off_the_air]

Blown away by the whoosh. Or maybe not; Considering the guy was shy about eating cake off the same plate as a girl, it makes sense he wouldn't get the teasing. Though to be honest that only makes it all so much more fun.

"Through no choice of my own I don't think I've ever been on the right side of the law. Some girls just have the worst luck... And the worst neighbors. You wouldn't hold that against me, would you?"

Rather than seem worried by this, Radio is still smiling. Everything is entertaining if you let yourself see it that way. Plus, there's cake. Can't not smile about cake.

[sumarusfinest]

"To be fair, your description of the law in your world seems overly fascist and corrupt. I could hardly blame you for choosing to do what's right over what is legal."

Katsuya's had to learn the difference between those the hard way over the years. So sad that it should be so. Also considering his best friend does the right thing in the most unlawful ways possible pretty much all the time....well. He'd be a hypocrite if he did hold it against her.

"How have you been, Radio-san? I've not spoken to you in some time."

[off_the_air]

Doing what's right. Yes. That's so her! Goodness, morality, kindness, generosity. She would definitely describe herself in those words. Thank you for reinforcing all of those very real and true notions. This is why you are her favorite officer.

"I've been..." She tries to smile, but she must know by now that Katsuya's seen her genuine smiles often enough to recognize a forced one no matter how practiced in it she is.

"Making ends meet. Right now I have a job training as an advisor for an inter-dimensional investor. I have to be able to assess the worth of goods and services for worlds I'd never imagined existed. There's quite a lot to learn. I feel like a teenager at her first job again. Everything's new and a tiny bit terrifying."

Now with a much softer, more honest smile she asks, "What would you say is the most valuable thing across worlds?"

[sumarusfinest]

"...Do you not like the work?" Resignation. Obligation. Needs.

He knows very well about taking an unwanted career because it's the only path available. Over time he's come to find purpose in his job, even if it wasn't what he set out to do in life. It's fulfilling.

"Resources for survival." Katsuya looks thoughtful a moment. "Building materials, food, water. Medical supplies. Clothing. The things that all people need regardless of world or colony."

[off_the_air]

"The work? I don't mind the work. It's..." She sighs, shoves a piece of cake into her mouth. With furrowed eyebrows she says, "I feel like I'm an underling. A wage slave, a nobody."

She points her fork at Katsuya and says, "If you ask me, the most valuable thing to trade someone is a sense of importance. There's always a market for the tools for survival, but there's always a market for feeling good about yourself, too. People who already have what they need to survive are willing to spend much more on fruitless things than they are on building supplies and clothing, I think."

With a scoff-like laugh she shrugs one shoulder. "But what do I know? I'm not the interdimensional trader. I'm only the intern."

[sumarusfinest]

"Oh. Monetary value." Katsuya nods. "I could see this being the case, yes. I was thinking more in terms of needs. But people are quite often willing to spend ludicrously on what they want rather than what they need."

Radio has a very good point, there.

"Everyone has to start somewhere? Unless you've been there for some time. In which case, you have my sympathies."

Forgetting I have a second account like a champ /trumpet

[off_the_air]

Sympathies. Gee, that makes her feel pitiable. But she knows Katsuya means well, and she smiles and nods at his well-wishings.

"Tell me, Katsuya. Would you ever bake for a living? Follow your dreams towards other professions? Or do you feel like policework is your one true calling? What keeps you in the line of fire these days after all you've gone through?"

[sumarusfinest]

He's been in a similar situation before. Experience is reason enough to be empathetic toward Radio's current plight.

"I had thought of opening a bakery here in the Nexus. Yes." But that was...some time ago. Things have changed since then. "It has always been my passion." He can't deny that, either.

"I stay in policework because I stay in Sumaru. After all I've given to protect the city...I don't want to see it go to waste. " There is obligation there, yes. But not only just, anymore. "I think...were I to start a bakery here, I would always worry about my home. Someone needs to protect it."

[off_the_air]

Radio stays silent as she considers what she's been told. Katsuya stays in Sumaru. He cares about it, fights for it. But he admits he has passion for calm things, and he's considered opening up a bakery before.

"You know..." she says, poking at a few crumbs with the tongs of her fork. "If you were interested... I'd help you run a bakery here. You'd have to teach me at the start, of course, and you may have to hire an employee or two, but I'd be willing to manage for you when you're gone. Preserve your legacy, hold down the fort. And when you come back the kitchen would always be there for you. I'd prefer to manage a small operation than play underling at a large one any day. "

She smiles for Katsuya and adds, "Of course you don't have to make a decision right away. The offer stands."

[sumarusfinest]

Katsuya's mouth has gone dry. He grips the plastic fork hard enough to snap it and swears under his breath in rapid Japanese before picking up the fragments and disposing of the garbage. It's a good distraction.

A chance to do both things. What he needs to do...and what he wants to do? He's never had such an option before.

"I wouldn't be there terribly often..." He starts, almost as if he's trying to convince himself why it can't work. It's not because he doesn't want to. But he's gone a long time rationalizing why he can't have what he wants. "Is that...truly something you want to do? Is that a...genuine...passion of yours?"

He has to think about this either way. But Radio has no idea how grateful he is for even the option to be given. Katsuya looks floored, really.

[off_the_air]

Radio artfully keeps her expression blank through Katsuya's fork-snapping and resulting frustrations. He has a right to his emotions... Even if they are unexpectedly passionate. And then, as expected, he needs a moment to riddle out how much this really means to him.

"Management is more than a passion for me. It's what I was made to do. And while I can't guarantee I'll be any good at baking, I'd be more than happy to give a friend an opportunity to succeed and to explore his passions.

"If you're worried about me, don't be. I know what I'm getting into. I wouldn't have offered if it's something I thought I couldn't or shouldn't do."

Her smile is confident. She really must know what she's getting into.

[sumarusfinest]

The mask that Officer Suou keeps so perfectly assembled is shattered in as many pieces as his fork. He's incredibly awkward and pessimistic, incredibly earnest in emotion and right now all of that culminates in Katsuya not quite trusting himself to speak.

His left hand is clenched into a tight fist. Of course he's worried about her. This is a huge business proposition and Katsuya has not a shred of knowledge on how to run a business. Ask him to make a cat themed bento and he'd be fine, but...this?

"I..." Wow he still sounds so staggered. "May I...think on the matter?" She had offered, but he needs to be certain.

Commence Operation Sous Chef Chefsuya

[off_the_air]

Radio closes her eyes and inclines her head slowly. She very much will allow him to think.

"Take all the time you need. When you think you have an answer, all you have to do is call. But if I don't hear from you in a few weeks' time I'll be calling you. That's the agreement."

She reaches out as if to touch him on the arm, but at the very last second decides that perhaps that's too personal. Too soon. Though they did already share cake from the same plate, scandal of scandals. She elects instead to smile for him and to fold her hands comfortably in front of her.

"You've been a friend to me, Katsuya. I understand that this is a big leap for you, but know you wouldn't be making it alone."

Putting him in a chef uniform. So precious

[sumarusfinest]

"..Thank you. That sounds quite fair."

He needs the space. The time to think. Katsuya has never been quick on his feet when it comes to decisions, unless there is life or death urgency. It's in his nature to dissect a problem and look at it from every angle, slowly moving toward an answer rather than to be impulsive.

He appreciates that Radio is granting him that. Opening a bakery in the Nexus...

Katsuya can't say he hasn't considered it before. Or even been pushed to do so before.