Cherry picking [Open]

[zouichi]

As Zouichi had mentioned earlier, the cherry trees behind the Inn had begun, as of the past few days, to bear fruit. Whatever oddity of the 'seasons' here had encouraged them to bloom before, apparently it had convinced them that now was prime cherry season.

He reached up into the branches of one of the trees, plucking the ripened fruit and leaving the rest for later. He'd promised some to Alendian, of course, but truth be told, he was setting aside the sweetest, choicest fruits for someone else. A larger proportion of fruit to pit, not too soft or too firm, with the most attractive colors...

It was normally a fairly mindless task, but he was engrossed enough in picking and sorting today that he might be caught unawares.

[The thread with Alendian and Ildraniath is closed, otherwise the post is open]

Comments

[quick_strike]

Alendian had come by for her promised cherries. Zouichi had offered them and she wasn't one to turn down fresh fruit, no matter what. Knowing where the inn was, she headed over in her free time, hood on her cloak up just to scare off anyone who might bother her in the hallways. Looking unsocial meant less social contact.

She stepped around behind the Inn, using common sense to know that Zouichi wasn't growing trees inside the building. Ah, cherries. There they were.

[futureisclear]

Ildraniath had taken to dropping by to visit Zouichi from time to time. This happened to be one of those dreams. She had come from the opposite direction of Alendian and didn't particularly feel a need to mask her presence.

"Zouichi - picking cherries?"

[zouichi]

Zouichi turned at the sound of her voice. He greeted her with a little nod, lowering the basket he was holding as he did so -- but it was hard to miss the slight smile on his face. "Farseer. Yes, I thought I should get to it before the ship decided it was evening again. Would you like some?"

[quick_strike]

Alendian, on the other hand, hid herself out of habit frequently. It came from spending too long as an outcast and when the farseer appeared, Alendian hopped back around the corner to hide herself. What in the warp was she doing here? Probably something as innocent as getting cherries too but habits still had a hold of her so Alendian didn't advance or show her position.

[futureisclear]

Ildraniath's lips quirked in a slight smile, "I won't say no to fresh fruit. Eating canned or dried rations... or the slop... gets tiresome after a while. Thank you."

She reached out and plucked a cherry out of the basket, examining it for a moment, "An Earth fruit, isn't it?"

[zouichi]

Zouichi nodded. "It's one of my favorites... although I admit I haven't sampled that much fruit before. Be careful of the pit in the center."

He paused for a moment as he considered what she'd said. "I still have some supplies left from our last shore leave mission. If you'd like, I'd be happy to bring something by a little more frequently. Perhaps, as you said, it would be a welcome change from the usual."

Yes, he was totally offering to make lunches for you, Ildy. In a slightly roundabout way.

[quick_strike]

Alendian flatly wondered if she was thinking too much into it. They couldn't be too close, could they? No, she definitely wouldn't believe it until she had solid proof.

But reacting to her want to keep hidden, her cloak wavered a little and blended in with its background despite it being unnecessary. It was proof, however, that she wanted to continue to stay unseen.

[futureisclear]

"I wouldn't mind, although I don't think you need to go to the trouble, Zouichi," Ildraniath shrugged, "It isn't as if the rations here will kill me."

At least, one would hope so. She carefully took a bite of the cherry, letting the taste linger.

"Not a bad taste."

[zouichi]

Zouichi shook his head. "No, of course not. But I'd like to do it. Besides. I know it's a little irrational, but knowing that at least some of the slop comes from cloned meat is... unsettling."

He smiled at her appraisal of the fruit. "Glad to hear it. I'll set these aside for you to take back. Oh -- was there any reason you came by today?"

[soulinherfists]

One of the things Allenby liked best about living in the Inn were the real plants. She'd always thought of the cherry trees as real pretty, but now that they were actually starting to grow cherries, she loved them even more.

She was about to jump up into one when she spotted Zouichi, who happened to have his back to her just at the moment. With a grin, she started to creep up on him--fortunately she hadn't worn any boots today, just plantsuit stockings.

[zouichi]

Zouichi continued picking the cherries in blissful ignorance, completely unaware that anyone was sneaking up on him.

[soulinherfists]

Heh heh heh. Closer and closer until she was iiiinnn range--

POUNCE HUG! "Heeeey, Zouichi!"

[zouichi]

Zouichi managed to rebalance himself and save the basket of cherries he was holding, but he couldn't help letting out a small exclamation of surprise as he suddenly found himself accosted by Allenby. "Hey! What's the occasion?"

Well, Allenby was energetic pretty much all the time, but he was pretty sure this is the first time she'd jumped him.

[soulinherfists]

Allenby was suitably impressed with how quickly Zouichi saved himself and the cherries from toppling over. Ten points!

"I need an occasion?" she said with a grin. "There's cherries blooming! I mean, growin'. That's pretty amazing on its own, doncha think?"

[zouichi]

Zouichi smiled. "It is, isn't it? Too bad there aren't more of these fruit trees around the City. Maybe people wouldn't have to eat quite as much slop."

[soulinherfists]

"Less slop sure would be nice," Allenby agreed. "Man, ever since that Maria kid told me about the nutrient goop on her world, I've been really paranoid about it. But it's hard to think that even Stacy would be that evil."

[zouichi]

Zouichi tilted his head at her a little. "Well, I don't know about that. After all, what do you think it was feeding those Reavers?"

That's riiiiight. Clones.

[carrieswar]

"Yo!"

Jr.'s eyes scanned over the accumulation of fruit Zouichi had picked off the trees, choosing to skip making a grab for one and instead walking up next to him.

"Gathering stuff for inside?" he asked, with a small jump to be able to reach one of the lower branches to grab at something to snack on. At least he was good at making it look as unembarrassing as possible.

[zouichi]

Zouichi smiled at him. "Yeah. Well, we can't very well just leave all that fruit up there, right? Not when the alternative is tasty slop."

Jr., you were so smooth and not adorable at all.

[carrieswar]

That was what he aimed for.

"Wonder if it's feasible to even make the slop bland at best if we mixed in stuff like this," he mused, rolling a cherry between his fingers before taking the bite. "Though 'cherry-flavored slop' doesn't sound all that appetizing."

[zouichi]

"Oh, I'm sure the ship could manage it," Zouichi said dryly. "And that sounds so lovely. I'm going to hold out for the mint-chocolate slop, though."

The artificial sun filtered through the leaves in pleasant fashion -- not really the same as a real sun, but at least the trees themselves were real. "...Actually, you gave me an idea. Back when the Chancellor was around, didn't he try flavoring ice cream? Maybe we could somehow work out cherry ice cream."

[carrieswar]

"Hey, I like mint chocolate, maybe closing your eyes helps."

Grabbing for another cherry, Jr. nodded. "Yeah! I remember that. Sounds like a bit of work if we're doing everything ... but it might be worth it, huh."

[zouichi]

"I think so. Not that there's anything wrong with vanilla..." Actually, had he ever had vanilla ice cream? Probably not.

"So. I haven't much of you lately. What've you been up to? A secret project?" Like a girlfriend okay no.

[carrieswar]

"We should see if we can get more than just cherry, then!"

Jr. could totally get a girlfriend if he wanted, Zouichi, ok. Okay maybe not. He brought his hand up to rub at the back of his head with a grin - though it was one tinged with annoyedness. "Mega secret!" he responded sarcastically. "I've even got a code name for it. Operation GLaDOS."

[zouichi]

Now that was a thought. Then they could have...

AN ICE CREAM PARTY.

"GLaDOS. Yeah, that figures," Zouichi said, looking a little irritated. "Was that before or after the who 'dating experiment' deal? Anyway, guess what you missed out on? We found out what happened with the last crew that got released from the pods."