milliways_bar

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EP

Days in Castle Oblivion have a tendency toward the featureless. Vexen's view rarely changes; if he emerges from the stark and sterile world of his laboratory, it is to wander the stark and sterile halls of the upper levels, or at other times the darker but similarly repetitive - if convoluted - hallways of the basements. The neophytes rarely visit the realm that the Chilly Academic calls his domain, and he does his best to avoid theirs when at all possible.

Mixing the neophytes with the founding members of Organization XIII has been, in Vexen's experience, not dissimilar to dropping a chunk of pure caesium into a bowl of water with the lights off.

But aside from the occasional explosion, run-ins with the neophytes, and visits from his Superior, Vexen's non-existence is relatively quite and undisturbed. He's left to his own devices and spends his days in blessed quiet and solitude.

It's no wonder that when he steps into the bar, he looks... surprised, to say the least. It's crowded, it's far darker than he's used to, it's loud, and it's warm. All things that are immediate strikes against the place in the Academic's book. But in the past decade, he's seen stranger things and been to far more unusual worlds.

Which means that he's pulled his mantle of unflappability back around him within short order as he presses further into this strange new 'world', or whatever it is.

A scientist must never turn away from an opportunity for the acquisition of new knowledge.

[OOC: Mun has to leave at 12:30AM MST, but feel free to tag and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. X3)

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He nods. It may take a few fumbles before he does it consistently, order and respect are so thoroughly integrated into his ways of doing things now - he'd knelt and bowed before Kida, and he hasn't done that in millennia - but he will put forth the necessary effort, until he can do it properly.

'Insects do contain large amounts of protein, but I imagine the fish would be substantially more palatable. I am afraid that I don't know what grog loaf is.'

If they do have fish together, then hopefully Mia has a taste for adventure. Because Vexen will end up making a trip to Atlantis for a few local delicacies. And Even had eaten enough of these (http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5800000/Atlantis-The-Lost-Empire-atlantis-the-lost-empire-5821393-1280-960.jpg) things over the years, still alive and fighting, that Vexen doesn't really have much of a gag reflex anymore, meaning he won't have second thoughts about bringing some along.

You learned to suppress it pretty damn quickly.

Mia wouldn't want to eat those! Their eyes remind her of gorgons, so they're too cute to eat!

But if he insisted, she'd give one a nibble. But no eating them alive while she's pregnant! It doesn't take much to set off her gag reflex like this.

"Grog loaf is a type of meatloaf made from grog snakes, which look something like giant purple slugs. They taste better than they sound, but not many are interested in giving it a try."

Atlanteans haven't been too picky about what they eat, since the Mehbelmok. If it keeps you alive and doesn't poison you, it's fair game.

'What do they taste like, then?'

Mia is sitting with a man who will probably order sea slugs, once he finds out he can get anything he wants here. Vexen hasn't had sea slugs in over two hundred years, and sometimes you want a taste of home, regardless of your inability to digest.

"Something like a cross between pork and chicken is how I describe it. It's quite hearty."

Grog snakes are amphibious at best, but there are some types that live out near the sea, or at least on Lann Island.

"Grog snakes are poisonous, though, so they need to be properly prepared. Carefully removing the head and then cooking the body is usually enough."

Vexen looks a bit surprised by the answer. It's clear that he was expecting to hear something a bit more unusual than 'pork and chicken'.

'They sound quite similar to our dire birds,' he says after a moment. 'They are something of a cross between a reptile and bird; flying lizards, if you will. Not unpleasant, but quite difficult to catch and prepare.'

Well, we had to come up with some sort of answer since the canon didn't give us one.

"That actually sounds pretty good. Maybe I should order that."

Oh yes, she didn't explain that about this place.

"In addition to connecting to many different worlds, this place can get food from all of those worlds. It's why I'm able to get grog loaf, Every Flavour Beans, fried paradoxes, any food or drink that's ever existed anywhere. This place can also provide clothes, periodicals, keys to rooms, and pretty much anything that isn't alive or a weapon."

It's certainly a more pleasant answer than 'stewed cabbage'.

'If you do not object to a somewhat gamier meat, it is not objectionable. It is a mark of devotion for our hunters to obtain them for a pregnant mate, actually. They are lean and good for the blood.'

He listens intently as she explains in more detail the bar's workings, because it is something that seems like it will make his tasks easier. It also explains Kida's room, and how she got it to look the way it does.

'How does one effect monetary recompense, for such services?' he asks when he's finished. 'And does this... bar simply replicate food and drink, or bring it directly from those worlds?'

If it's the latter, he won't be ordering anything Atlantean. He may be heartless and out for himself, but he's not that big of a dick.

"How much gamier?" she asks. "One of my complaints about antlion is that it's too gamey, but I can overlook that if it doesn't feel as gristly as antlion feels."

Mia's not sure how something with an exoskeleton can taste so gristly nor does she want to know. It's just that amazingly bad.

"The bar will take whatever currency you have and can even convert from one to another. If you've no money, there's a board for tabs until you're on your figurative feet."

The last question takes some thought.

"You know? I don't know. Everything tastes authentic, but I don't know if that's excellent replication or some system of import."

'It is not so very bad. It certainly isn't gristly, but it is not a domesticated animal. It does not have the same overly saturated taste that I have come to expect from the meat sources farmed by many societies.'

It had taken Even a long time to get used to the diets kept by most other people he had met. Of course, it had also taken him a long time to get used to sunshine, wind, rain, and buildings that kept the outside completely out.

'I will refrain from making too much use of the system, until I have examined it further,' he says. Sometimes there is barely enough to adequately support the population.

"Oh. Then I'd probably like it. I don't mind wild animals. In fact, grog snakes are wild."

Frankly, Mia can't imagine Milliways using a system that took from a society's need without giving something back, but since this isn't what was brought up...

"As long as you're all right. If the source is worrying you, I can always bring food from home. I sometimes do anyway if I want to cook here. No one in the kitchen minds me going in to make a batch of strawberry tarts with the jam Mama makes and there's always enough for friends."

'If you wish to, but it is not necessary. Eating merely satisfies cravings for tastes and textures; I do not have to do so, in order to survive. My homeworld has a limited food supply.'

Of course, if Mia really wants to bring strawberry tarts, then Vexen is quite unlikely to turn them down. But he will insist on being permitted to make good an exchange of sorts, at least the first time. He can always go hunt a dire bird, or something.

Ooo, that sounds like a fair trade! He'll get dinner and she'll make dessert!

"Some of the best things about life are the ones that aren't necessary. And Mama makes the best strawberry jam most anyone's tasted."

She giggles.

"Maybe it's a grandmother thing? Nana was pretty good at it, too."

He'll have to figure out how to cook it, though, unless Bar can do something about it. Most young Atlantean men learned early on, but Even had never anticipated marriage or a family. Still, he's a quick study.

'My Other did not get to try such things, until he was fully grown. But he enjoyed them very much.' He assumes that she'll be familiar with the terms 'Other' and 'Somebody'.

'But his grandmother did a nice jellied eel.' And of course, his adoptive family had several people who were handy in the kitchen.

Bar might be able to! Or at least someone in the kitchen.

And she is indeed familiar with those terms.

"Jellied eel?" Mia asks. "I like eel all right, but I don't think I've ever had it jellied before."

Something can be figured out, certainly. If necessary, Vexen can ask Kida if she knows, or can find out for him. He'll be teased mercilessly for it, no doubt, but there's a way to deal with it.

'I have found similar societies on other worlds who make a similar dish. We chop eels and then boil them down in stock, before letting them cool and thicken. We tend to eat them warm, though. They are quite filling, though a bit of an acquired taste.'

He suspects they were an imported dish, however, since they're not very traditional.

"I can kind of see the appeal in that, but I think the texture would get to me nowadays. Seems like the sort of thing they would make and the sort of thing Nall would absolutely love."

And now she's imagining a kitten-sized dragon swimming his way through a pot of jellied eel. She covers her mouth and nose, as if sneezing, and starts laughing.

"I'll be sure to bring him some if I get to visit him before the baby's born," she gets out once she's gasping for breath.

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EP

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