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

[brave_heart_verity]

"'Like a sun-warmed stone'. Are you sure you're a mage and not a poet?" He puts things so nicely.

"Yeah, if you want. Let's see..." A few passes of sriracha, a good shake of red pepper flakes, and a spoonful of jalapenos next. That would have any human sweating.

...can he sweat? She's about to find out.

[gate_crasher]

"Magic needs poetry," he replies. "Both arts seek to give shape and scope to ephemeral things, imagined before they can be real."

He watches with interest as the ingredients are added, sniffing curiously more than once before she's done. And when she is, he tries a bite and instantly gives the pleased hiss-laugh of a chili-lover eating something that's right at the heat they like. "Haaaaa, yess! Delicious, Verity, thank you. They do not cook like this in the Imperial province, and I have missed it. You do not have some boiled shrimp I could stir in, by chance?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Magic needs poetry," she repeats quietly. That's an idea she can get behind, but she'll need to think about it.

She watches his reaction carefully, ready to grab a beer for him. But his reaction is better than expected, and she grins when she realizes how much he's enjoying it. "Shrimp? Ah, no, not today. But..." that gives her an idea for the future. And for now, maybe, "Cornbread?"

[gate_crasher]

Shade-Seeker nods approval, or perhaps affirmation. After their discussion of alchemy, he feels a certain amount of proprietary care for Verity's magical growth. It isn't a widely-held belief he's just voiced, but it works for him, and he believes it could work for her as well.

"Cornbread? I don't think I've seen corn made into bread," he muses, taking a piece with care. "Oh, it's crumbly." Gauntlets maybe aren't the best for picking up a piece of cornbread--claws, either. With a little care, though, he can pop a piece into his mouth. "Mmm. Buttery, sweet, and very definitely corn. Thank you!"

[brave_heart_verity]

So many excellent teachers; she's blessed to have them looking out for her, and will do her best to make them all proud.

No, gauntlets are not really the best food-eating apparel. But he makes it work, and she manages to catch most of the crumbs in a napkin, so, not much lost. "Yeah, it gets a little messy. Sorry, I'll make it firmer next time. It's a simple recipe, if you'd like to bring it home? It's not alchemy, but a new way to eat food can be pretty magical."

[gate_crasher]

He flashes her another pointy-toothed smile. "I would enjoy that, thank you. Mmm, and it makes a good counterpoint to the heat. A countermelody, perhaps." The crumbs can go straight into his bowl, that simplifies things.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Careful. Some girls would get ideas if you kept talking about music and poetry and magic with them," she teases gently. Not that he shouldn't make some lucky person happy someday, but Ver can tell he's likely to blunder into unintended relationships the way he's going.

And if she can see that...

"If you like it that hot, I think you're going to love my brother's recipe."

[gate_crasher]

"Ah? My apologies, I would not mean to give the wrong impression. It is almost a pity that the subjects are so connected. Almost." Shade-Seeker hasn't had much luck in that department, although to be fair his prospects have changed substantially since the last time he looked. He's still operating on his previous habits, in that regard; he shall need to adjust.

"Oh?" He smiles, intrigued, at the prospect. "Then I look forward to trying it. This has been a pleasant day, indeed, and I thank you both for instigating it."

[brave_heart_verity]

"You don't need to apologize to me. Just be careful of the other people you meet. You're a good man, brave and kind, and powerful. That's going to attract a lot of attention." Boy, is he ever in for a surprise next time he goes for a nice walk around the capital.

"You're welcome. I'm happy to be this kind of instigator."

[gate_crasher]

The chili can't make him sweat, but the praise can make him duck (the equivalent of a blush, for him). "Mm, I need to remind myself that I am not the impoverished aspiring student I was when I first came to the Capital."

He chuckles. "It is the best sort of commotion to raise, eh?"

[brave_heart_verity]

She's learning to pick up these clues from him, and will relent now that he's got the idea. "No, you're certainly not that anymore. A well-to-do aspiring student, at least."

She grins and gives a nod. "Absolutely. Just imagine if we'd decided to do something with chocolate. I don't think I can handle that kind of power."

[gate_crasher]

"Ha!" he laughs. "And no longer aspiring, either--I have certainly joined the Mages' Guild now. Which is not to say that I am without aspirations."

The suggestion of some kind of chocolate-off gets a chuckle. "You would need to fend off the crowds with a sturdy pole of some sort."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Well-to-do aspiring mage, then," she corrects herself.

"Or a guard. Someone to enforce proper queuing etiquette and sample sizes."

[gate_crasher]

"Guards would be prudent, yes," he agrees, before chuckling. "Yes, how many students are also the head of the educational institute they attend?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"In reality, or in their wildest dreams?" She smirks, then admits, "Great educators are always learning. It's not so bad, to keep learning new things. They say it keeps the mind sharp. So far the only sharp thing I've got is my tongue, but I live in hope."

She does not, and he knows that. So much joking, except when she's not.

[gate_crasher]

He chuckles again. "A fair point. I would not want to give up the pleasure of learning, when it is my turn to teach another." He sobers then, assuring Verity sincerely, "you are much better than you say, Song of Truth. Better I think than you know."

[brave_heart_verity]

Now it's her turn to blush, and she has no easy way to hide it. "But I always know the truth about myself," she reminds him softly. "It'd be pretty hard to fool myself."

And yet.

[gate_crasher]

"It takes only fact to see someone at their worst," he replies. "To see them at their best requires an act of faith, I think, where you have slightly less practice, and have met perhaps with fewer rewards."

As an afterthought, he adds, "do I lie, when I speak better of you than you think of yourself?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Faith isn't something I'm good at, no," she admits with a sigh.

"It isn't a lie that you believe these things. But there's a difference between subjective and objective. And this is a debate for another day, I think, when we won't be interrupted so easily."

[gate_crasher]

"All fair points," he agrees. "I look forward to exploring these subjects further, on another occasion."