[ CLOSED ] spring break babeyy

[wiedzminka]

Who: Ciri, Julie, Nadine & Jaskier
When: early May to... like May 20?? who knows.
Where: Aquila, Andromeda Bay
What: a roadtrip and a beach vacation with the girlssss (+ Jaskier). what better way to cope with all the bad shit happening than to just. bounce. bye.
Warnings: drug use and drinking, lbr; discussion of eating various animals



[ Frankly, by this point, they've all well and truly had it.

After the stress and unpleasantness (trauma, even) of sharing memories without anyone's permission, losing more of their number (the loss of Rinwell stings the most, for Ciri), and suffering an all around shitty past few weeks, it's time for a change of scenery.

Ciri talks to Jaskier first; he could also use the distraction. She tells him how she'd promised Julie a view of the ocean, which apparently Julie's never seen. She calls in a favor or two with some merchants she'd helped guard on the road and back a few times, helping Jaskier secure them all a wagon and horses for rent. She tasks him with inviting Nadine and goes in person to tell Julie, figuring out the best time to leave (as soon as possible, in fact).

If any of them seem a little desperate to get away, at least none of the others will judge.

The trip takes about a week, but with the comforts of the wagon, plenty of drink and familiar company, it passes by quickly. Ciri rides alongside on Nixie while they travel, or occasionally ties her to the back of the wagon on her lead, letting her walk around while Ciri sits and chats. She hunts for meat to add to the provisions they've brought, desert rabbits roasted over a fire, the occasional small fowl.

When they arrive, Ciri shows them the inn she and Sephiroth had found last time they were here, a cheerful little place decorated in brightly colored tapestries and fish-centric motifs. They could have stayed in the wagon, but between her and Jaskier at least, they've got the coin for a bit of a splurge. And besides, the inn is only a short walk from the bay. ]

Comments

[wiedzminka]

[ Vacation is a term Ciri's been newly acquainted with as well, and she's embraced it whole-heartedly. They've settled into their rooms -- one for Nadine and Jaskier (yes, they are being encouraged to have privacy), and one for Julie and Ciri -- and now that they've freshened up and reconvened, Ciri is all for getting some food and drink. ]

The inn has food, but there are some restaurants nearby too, and some proper taverns. They have excellent seafood. Honestly, I think I could eat a whole dolphin right now. ...d'you think dolphin is good to eat?

[ All this delivered while she's got her whole arm in Mog's satchel, half leaning on Jaskier. The mini-gryph is holding onto her with his front paws and nibbling at her loose shirt sleeve, apparently in an attempt to groom her nonexistent feathers. ]

In any case. Drinks, definitely. And plenty of them. See, even Nadine has no excuse.

[princessvegas]

[ Julie, on the other hand, does not travel light. Did she haul three entire carpetbags full of clothing and wine with her? She sure did. To be fair, one of the bags was really more so that she'll have more space to carry new purchases back, but she figured she'd take advantage of the empty bag on the way by stuffing it with bottles of wine.

After all, it is a week in a wagon. What else can she be expected to do?

When they arrived, Julie did little more than set her bags down before she left to go shopping. She'd returned within an hour with several dresses and two pairs of sandals, one of which she'd handed over to Nadine, as the only other one who hasn't already visited this city.

Already mildly buzzed, Julie turns all her attention to Ciri, nose wrinkled and grimacing in disgust. ]

I mean, I know everyone was always tryin' to make the Japanese stop eatin' 'em. Dolphins are like, as smart as little kids. It's weird to eat anythin' that smart.

[cointosser]

I can't say I've ever indulged myself, but is it not just an extra large fish? [A bit differently shaped, of course, but. Maybe the fins? Honestly, he's rather starving himself. The trip here was nicer than most he's taken, given he can grow fresh fruits in perfect condition on the way, they were well-stocked with water and wine, and the wagon had some rather comfortable seats, but it's still far too bloody long stuck in a wagon.

Even with very lively company.

Jaskier is dressed-down for Jaskier, which means a cream-colored tunic embroidered with blue flowers, curls of chest hair showing where Hector's amulet and the bone ring hand from gold chains. He still wears boots, and considering what Julie is handing out to Nadine, he may be, perhaps, a bit overdressed.

His feet are sweltering a bit.]

The Japanese are... a people? [As good a guess as any.] Wait, what? Since when are fish intelligent? Or perhaps children from your world are very dumb?

[He's mostly kidding. Then he pauses. Not Jim, he mouths at Nadine. In case she has yet to tell the others about him.] Well, what do you all enjoy? Tuna? Crustaceans? At this rate, I'll eat a limping horse if it gets too close.

[nadine_he_loves]

[Nadine is quick to change her footwear when Julie offers her more vacation appropriate footwear.

And her expression mirrors the other woman's and she shakes her head. Different world, she reminds herself. And Ciri and Jaskier just apparently don't actually know what dolphins are. Why would they? She doubts marine biology is a booming industry in their world.]

No, dolphins aren't fish. They're mammals. And they're really smart, they have a complex language and problem solving skills and they make and use tools...they have social structures similar to humans and they use names for each other, and they've shown signs of actual self awareness. A dolphin can look in a mirror and understand that image is him reflected back. They also rescue sailors in trouble.

[Eating dolphin is absolutely not on the menu.]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love a real lobster. Nott didn't have lobster, just crayfish. Or clam chowder...I come from the land of clam chowder.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri's still in her leathers. Someone please make her change. ]

People eat all sorts of beasts, even smart ones. [ She points out, lips pursed in amusement. Sometimes, Julie and Nadine's sensibilities baffle her. Horses are definitely smarter than fish, but they aren't uncommon as food if necessity strikes, simply more valuable for other reasons. ] Folks'll eat anything if they're hungry enough.

But clam chowder sounds just fine, so long as there's plenty of it. And some big fish, of the stupidest variety we can find.

[ Mog will surely agree, right? She scratches under his beak, at the fluffy feathers beneath. ]

[princessvegas]

You shouldn't eat any animal that mostly eats meat. That's how you get crazy fuckin' diseases spreadin' from animals to people. And it's like, psychopathic to go huntin' somethin' rare and endangered 'stead of just whatever's actually there. No one catches a dolphin by chance. Japan was the only place I ever heard of that hunted 'em, and everyone else in the world thought they were barbaric as hell for it.

[ Julie is from the heartland, grew up surrounded by pretty much every domesticated kind of livestock that exists. To her, intentionally going after something like a dolphin or an ape or an elephant, it's the mark of someone genuinely dangerous. There's simply no reason to do it other than pure, unadulterated cruelty. Why go through the effort when there's a cow or a chicken right next door? It would only be because the person wants to hurt something smarter.

She makes a face, seemingly disgusted by the idea of clam chowder. Because she is, actually -- having lived so very far from any real source of seafood, Julie is extraordinarily wary of anything from the ocean that hasn't been breaded, fried and flash-frozen. ]

Ain't that clams and like, milk? That honestly sounds like a recipe to throw up.

[cointosser]

[Honestly, Jaskier is on Ciri's side of wondering what the benefits of not eating dolphins is, whether fish or mammal -- and he really wants to argue about the mammal bit, but he went to school for the seven other literary arts, none of which were marine biology -- besides, Nadine going into that sort of teachery voice is sexy and he invites more of it.

Jaskier blinks politely at Julie's going hunting something rare comment, which is a terribly sweet sentiment and exactly the sort of reason why dragons are so rare that Jaskier once thought them fable entirely.]

Well. If they're so smart, I imagine they don't get caught very often, then.

[He has no idea. The closest to open ocean he's gone on is the waters near Skellige, and dolphins are not something you're watching out for. Namely, you're watching for the sirens that would much rather eat you.]

Oh, you know, we used to eat poached fish in a spot of white wine. That might attune to your tastes more than shelled things and milk.

[Though he has nothing against chowders. Who doesn't love a nice, thick soup?]

[nadine_he_loves]

Okay, that's the worst description of clam chowder I've ever heard.

[She's laughing as she says it.]

It's a cream based broth that has some milk in it, but it's mostly chicken stock and butter and flour to thicken it. And there's potato and bacon in it, too. The really good kind uses wine in the broth.

[Of course there's other kinds of clam chowder, but as a New Hampshire native, those don't count to Nadine. She really hopes it's the right kind of chowder they make here.]

And the best kind is served in a bread bowl. With extra butter. It's delicious, and I'd probably pay a ridiculous amount of money for a bowl of clam chowder and a lobster roll. But I'm sure we'll have plenty of options, this feels like the kind of place where food is considered an art.

[The sort of place where chefs are trying everything, and attempting to one-up each other's menus. They probably serve dishes none of them have ever heard of before. Made with ingredients that don't exist anywhere but here.]

Plus they probably have fish and crustaceans and things that don't even exist in either of our worlds. They had some fish I'd never heard of, back in Nott.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri, growing impatient around all of Julie's sudden weird rules about what can be hunted and eaten, latches onto the idea of soup quickly enough. Which Julie also dislikes for some reason? She's pickier than Ciri realized. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Ciri makes a 'let's go' gesture for Nadine to lead the way. ]

I'll eat whatever chowder or fish they've got. I'm famished.

Might even swoon. [ Deadpan. She gets that from Geralt. ] Come on.

[princessvegas]

[ WOW Ciri, it's not picky to be suspicious of foods that would be spoiled by the time you ever got the chance to try them. And she has no problem with soup, she just thinks it's weird to mix dairy and seafood, and she is not odd in that belief. Guess whose next new food is going to be Rocky Mountain oysters and lamb fries.

Julie snorts, does actually roll her eyes, and follows them. ]

I never said we couldn't go, I just said I don't wanna eat dolphin or chowder. That seems completely normal to me. Don't get huffy.

[cointosser]

[Somewhere in the middle of Nadine's explanation of the merits of chowder is a groan -- not of boredom, but of hunger. Fuck, that sounds delicious. While Jaskier has many a taste for fine wines and finer foods, sometimes all he wants to do is get fucked up and chew on hot, buttered bread for hours. It always settles the stomach, leaves him full, and... reminds him of the days where he felt the true pangs of hunger.

It's been quite the long time.]

Honestly, I'm going to eat Mog if we take much longer. [But they're not. They're moving, because Jaskier is sweeping his hands towards the group of them with a go on gesture. And anyway, Julie has nothing to worry about, considering Jaskier has a spell to keep any food from spoiling. Have you ever wanted to see bread that doesn't get stale for three months? Just come to his kitchen.

Jaskier and Ciri would absolutely tear up some Rocky Mountain oysters, if they haven't already.]

Well, what is it you do like? I imagine the list is longer. Or are you objecting to all fish? I'm rather sure it's going to be a main point of every meal considering this town's locale. Maybe something fried?