KeeperAbra (2022-12-06) Just a short one today.
Kalender was the last one to wake up, but no one greeted him. A greeting from Jyn would’ve been appropriate right about now, and she usually did, but she wasn’t there.
Page, Minimine, Lilia, were all gone as well. They must’ve all been eating downstairs by now.
The door opened, closed, and footsteps came closer until they peeked around the paper screen. It was Jyn.
“Are you awake?” she asked.
“Just now,” Kalender murmured.
“Up you go.”
“Just … just gimme a bit.”
So he said, but he didn’t move. Jyn stepped closer, as far as she could without dirtying the mattress on the floor with her shoes. She crouched and held out a hand.
“Reach for it.”
Kalender waved the closest hand he had, the tips of his fingers trying to feel for Jyn’s. They brushed once, then twice, and when he pushed his non-existent core muscles just that little bit more, their hands gripped each other, and Jyn pulled him up.
He was seated up now, but the bed had its own sense of gravity, it seemed. Jyn, however, grabbed his other hand. She wouldn’t let him fall back down.
“All the food is laid out, already,” Jyn said. “Minimine is on the verge of eating your share.”
A little bit more motivation urged Kalender to grunt and get on his feet, one motion of the limb at a time, until, helped by a tug from Jyn, he finally stood on two legs. Still, the world didn’t feel quite real to him, his mind yet to synchronize with reality. He let go of one of Jyn’s hands to rub his eyes.
She didn’t let go of his other hand for a second, so when she stepped forward, he didn’t expect her to come in for a frontal hug. It happened slowly and quietly, as if it was the most natural thing for her to ease into it. He was disoriented for a different reason, now. He didn’t question it, though, and returned the hug with soft delight.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you, too.”
They pulled away, Jyn quickly retracting her arms behind her like a knight on parade rest. She didn’t hurry to get away, though, simply leading the way forwards with Kalender following closely behind.
***
He’d just barely caught Minimine before she stole the potato from his plate. Page’s delaying action had bought him precious time; she couldn’t possibly say no to Mimi more than a few times in a row, could she?
Minimine’s fascination with potatoes gave Kalender a chuckle when he thought about it. He knew full well that he was the only one to blame for it, but it was just potatoes. It wouldn’t change the world or anything.
This morning’s arrangement had Kalender and Minimine meeting with the Harem Priest again. Thinking it meant free time, Page cheered, ready to explore half the town’s underworld and fight off evil organizations!—before Jyn took charge and dragged her off to the nearest training field. Surely, the knights here opened their training area to the public as well? There was a Monster Wall just a short walk down the road, after all.
Kalender and Minimine walked hand in hand once again. The goddess was curious about everything, even the rats that stood on their hind legs, sniffing at the air from the tops of empty barrels. Perhaps they had some innate sense of divinity, because the animals bowed and showed reverence to her as she passed by.
“Ah, there he is,” Kalender said. They’d passed by the same alley they’d talked to him in yesterday, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and they did.
Except, he was passionately making out with someone. Minimine found it interesting. Rather, didn’t some of her followers talk about doing such a thing, sometimes? They melted better than cheese when talking about it, too.
Kalender hated to interrupt, but the alternatives were either to walk away or to keep watching. The last one was right out, and he really just wanted to get the serious stuff out of the way as soon as he could—that date with Page sounded like the right way to unwind after all the frazzle-dazzle of the past few days.
He cleared his throat, loudly. The Priest and the girl were surprised; the girl was embarrassed, but the Priest, not so.
“How long have you been standing there?” the Priest asked.
“One second,” Kalender replied.
“Thank god… Oh, sorry, dear,” he told the girl. “Later?”
The girl was very confused, and what with that little girl over there unquestionably having seen her do such a lewd thing!
“Worry not, child,” Minimine said.
“O-okay.” The girl waved goodbye to the Harem Priest and avoided making eye contact with anyone else on the way out.
The Priest wanted to complain just slightly. It was getting good, damn.
“I know a nice place,” the Priest said. “Name’s Viktor Redd, by the way. Just drop the Occupation, it’s fine.”
The nice place in question was an ice cream parlor, tucked into a side road a little bit off the ways from a blacksmith, which Kalender noted. It was a small place—a door and a window—cozy, really. They went inside, where, on the far side, there was a low counter fenced by a window and a bar beside that with two stools. There were two round tables: one under the street-side window, and another between that and the counter. Simple wooden chairs surrounded each table, four each.
“Ice cream?” Kalender asked—though, what he’d wanted to ask was ‘Ice cream magic?’
“Reincarnators brought it over 300 years ago, apparently.”
“You one?”
“Ye.”
Figures. “Cool.”
Viktor was kind enough to treat him and Minimine to the creamy goodness. The low counter was actually an ice cream chest, the window protecting the ice cream tubs, on full display, from the curiosities of children like Minimine. The owner, an old lady, was smiling from the other side.
“There’s so many,” Minimine said. The earthy potato-colored one looked good—her thoughts leaked via telepathy. Viktor, from his seat, was surprised, but divine beings talking into his head wasn’t new. The old lady thought she was finally getting to that age, but she’d always been prepared for this day. She swallowed a pill.
Kalender followed Minimine’s gaze. “I think that’s chocolate.”
Chocolate? Not potato? She looked at the golden potato-colored one.
“Mocha.”
… Red sweet potato?
“Pretty sure that’s strawberry.”
… T-the purple yam one?
“Blueberry—actually, wait, it’s a bit off.” He looked up to the old lady. “Excuse me, what flavor’s that one?”
“Oh, that’s purple yam.” She smiled with a missing tooth. It was always nice seeing the young ones take it slow.
Huh? “Seriously? That’s a thing?”
“From the south, aren’t you? It’s just slightly colder up here, so it’s the perfect climate to grow purple yams, you see.”
“And you can make ice cream out of it?”
“It’s good! Try it, try it!”
He had a feeling he might frequent this place in these coming days, so … alright. He could try out the other flavors some other time, anyway. “Two of the purple yam, then, please.”
He thought the lady would put a single scoop in each paper cup, and she did—a scoop the size of a fist.
“Potato size. Perfect.”
Kalender could already see it: the Potato Theory of Everything. ‘All of creation is potato, and so are we’—or something like that.
They rejoined Viktor, who was seated, munching on a—
“Jesus Christ,” Kalender blurted out.
Viktor was taken aback. He looked at the spud in his hand and back to Kalender. “You got something against potatoes?”
Minimine joined in with her own judging gaze—’Mortal, you dare commit thoughtcrime against the sanctity of potato? Or whatever it was she was thinking.
“There can only be so many potatoes in one day…” Kalender shook his head.
“What on earth are you—alright, whatever, I won’t ask.” Viktor shook his head. “Come on, sit down. Serious business, right?”
KeeperAbra (2022-12-06) I'm toning down my chapter lengths from now on—50% because I wanna pace myself better, but also 50% because I wanna give this story a more casual pace. Cheers!
KeeperAbra (2022-12-06) Just a short one today.
Kalender was the last one to wake up, but no one greeted him. A greeting from Jyn would’ve been appropriate right about now, and she usually did, but she wasn’t there.
Page, Minimine, Lilia, were all gone as well. They must’ve all been eating downstairs by now.
The door opened, closed, and footsteps came closer until they peeked around the paper screen. It was Jyn.
“Are you awake?” she asked.
“Just now,” Kalender murmured.
“Up you go.”
“Just … just gimme a bit.”
So he said, but he didn’t move. Jyn stepped closer, as far as she could without dirtying the mattress on the floor with her shoes. She crouched and held out a hand.
“Reach for it.”
Kalender waved the closest hand he had, the tips of his fingers trying to feel for Jyn’s. They brushed once, then twice, and when he pushed his non-existent core muscles just that little bit more, their hands gripped each other, and Jyn pulled him up.
He was seated up now, but the bed had its own sense of gravity, it seemed. Jyn, however, grabbed his other hand. She wouldn’t let him fall back down.
“All the food is laid out, already,” Jyn said. “Minimine is on the verge of eating your share.”
A little bit more motivation urged Kalender to grunt and get on his feet, one motion of the limb at a time, until, helped by a tug from Jyn, he finally stood on two legs. Still, the world didn’t feel quite real to him, his mind yet to synchronize with reality. He let go of one of Jyn’s hands to rub his eyes.
She didn’t let go of his other hand for a second, so when she stepped forward, he didn’t expect her to come in for a frontal hug. It happened slowly and quietly, as if it was the most natural thing for her to ease into it. He was disoriented for a different reason, now. He didn’t question it, though, and returned the hug with soft delight.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you, too.”
They pulled away, Jyn quickly retracting her arms behind her like a knight on parade rest. She didn’t hurry to get away, though, simply leading the way forwards with Kalender following closely behind.
***
He’d just barely caught Minimine before she stole the potato from his plate. Page’s delaying action had bought him precious time; she couldn’t possibly say no to Mimi more than a few times in a row, could she?
Minimine’s fascination with potatoes gave Kalender a chuckle when he thought about it. He knew full well that he was the only one to blame for it, but it was just potatoes. It wouldn’t change the world or anything.
This morning’s arrangement had Kalender and Minimine meeting with the Harem Priest again. Thinking it meant free time, Page cheered, ready to explore half the town’s underworld and fight off evil organizations!—before Jyn took charge and dragged her off to the nearest training field. Surely, the knights here opened their training area to the public as well? There was a Monster Wall just a short walk down the road, after all.
Kalender and Minimine walked hand in hand once again. The goddess was curious about everything, even the rats that stood on their hind legs, sniffing at the air from the tops of empty barrels. Perhaps they had some innate sense of divinity, because the animals bowed and showed reverence to her as she passed by.
“Ah, there he is,” Kalender said. They’d passed by the same alley they’d talked to him in yesterday, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and they did.
Except, he was passionately making out with someone. Minimine found it interesting. Rather, didn’t some of her followers talk about doing such a thing, sometimes? They melted better than cheese when talking about it, too.
Kalender hated to interrupt, but the alternatives were either to walk away or to keep watching. The last one was right out, and he really just wanted to get the serious stuff out of the way as soon as he could—that date with Page sounded like the right way to unwind after all the frazzle-dazzle of the past few days.
He cleared his throat, loudly. The Priest and the girl were surprised; the girl was embarrassed, but the Priest, not so.
“How long have you been standing there?” the Priest asked.
“One second,” Kalender replied.
“Thank god… Oh, sorry, dear,” he told the girl. “Later?”
The girl was very confused, and what with that little girl over there unquestionably having seen her do such a lewd thing!
“Worry not, child,” Minimine said.
“O-okay.” The girl waved goodbye to the Harem Priest and avoided making eye contact with anyone else on the way out.
The Priest wanted to complain just slightly. It was getting good, damn.
“I know a nice place,” the Priest said. “Name’s Viktor Redd, by the way. Just drop the Occupation, it’s fine.”
The nice place in question was an ice cream parlor, tucked into a side road a little bit off the ways from a blacksmith, which Kalender noted. It was a small place—a door and a window—cozy, really. They went inside, where, on the far side, there was a low counter fenced by a window and a bar beside that with two stools. There were two round tables: one under the street-side window, and another between that and the counter. Simple wooden chairs surrounded each table, four each.
“Ice cream?” Kalender asked—though, what he’d wanted to ask was ‘Ice cream magic?’
“Reincarnators brought it over 300 years ago, apparently.”
“You one?”
“Ye.”
Figures. “Cool.”
Viktor was kind enough to treat him and Minimine to the creamy goodness. The low counter was actually an ice cream chest, the window protecting the ice cream tubs, on full display, from the curiosities of children like Minimine. The owner, an old lady, was smiling from the other side.
“There’s so many,” Minimine said. The earthy potato-colored one looked good—her thoughts leaked via telepathy. Viktor, from his seat, was surprised, but divine beings talking into his head wasn’t new. The old lady thought she was finally getting to that age, but she’d always been prepared for this day. She swallowed a pill.
Kalender followed Minimine’s gaze. “I think that’s chocolate.”
Chocolate? Not potato? She looked at the golden potato-colored one.
“Mocha.”
… Red sweet potato?
“Pretty sure that’s strawberry.”
… T-the purple yam one?
“Blueberry—actually, wait, it’s a bit off.” He looked up to the old lady. “Excuse me, what flavor’s that one?”
“Oh, that’s purple yam.” She smiled with a missing tooth. It was always nice seeing the young ones take it slow.
Huh? “Seriously? That’s a thing?”
“From the south, aren’t you? It’s just slightly colder up here, so it’s the perfect climate to grow purple yams, you see.”
“And you can make ice cream out of it?”
“It’s good! Try it, try it!”
He had a feeling he might frequent this place in these coming days, so … alright. He could try out the other flavors some other time, anyway. “Two of the purple yam, then, please.”
He thought the lady would put a single scoop in each paper cup, and she did—a scoop the size of a fist.
“Potato size. Perfect.”
Kalender could already see it: the Potato Theory of Everything. ‘All of creation is potato, and so are we’—or something like that.
They rejoined Viktor, who was seated, munching on a—
“Jesus Christ,” Kalender blurted out.
Viktor was taken aback. He looked at the spud in his hand and back to Kalender. “You got something against potatoes?”
Minimine joined in with her own judging gaze—’Mortal, you dare commit thoughtcrime against the sanctity of potato? Or whatever it was she was thinking.
“There can only be so many potatoes in one day…” Kalender shook his head.
“What on earth are you—alright, whatever, I won’t ask.” Viktor shook his head. “Come on, sit down. Serious business, right?”
KeeperAbra (2022-12-06) I'm toning down my chapter lengths from now on—50% because I wanna pace myself better, but also 50% because I wanna give this story a more casual pace. Cheers!
