milliways_bar | (no subject)

Baze ambles downstairs, intending to have lunch, and spots Rae. "Hello, Rae! May the Force of others be with you!" he calls cheerfully, and crosses to her at a leisurely pace. He settles his armored bulk on the stool next to hers and leans his elbows on the bar. "What kind of vegetable is that? I think I've eaten some, but I don't know what it's called."

Hello, Baze!" Rae looks up from penning her rough draft with a bright smile. Her understanding of the Force is limited to what Baze had mentioned to her when they first met, but she knows enough to recognize a well-wishing sentiment when it is spoken in greeting, so she returns the good wishes in kind. "May the Force of others be with you, too!"

"This is a head of green leaf lettuce. There are lots of kinds of lettuces, but this is the kind of grew to enter in the fair. And look!" She holds up the poloroid picture of her, her lettuce, and their first prize blue ribbon. "I won best vegetable!"

(ooc: Argh! So sorry for the delay in replying! Im without a home laptop and my phone didn't ping the notifs, so I just got back to this. Hope slowtime is alright!)

Aww, how sweet! No one returns the greeting around here but Chirrut, so it's lovely to hear it from someone else's lips. Baze could scoop her up into a hug, but he isn't sure she'd appreciate that. Besides, they're both sitting.

"Congratulations!" he says, beaming at her. "That's quite an accomplishment! How are you planning to eat it?"

Because that's ultimately what vegetables are for, right?

(OOC: Noooo worries at all! Sorry to hear you're without a laptop. Slowtime is perfectly fine!)

"I'm not sure yet," she admits, grinning sheepishly. "Lettuce isn't usually cooked, though I've heard of people grilling it, but often it's served raw with other things that have been cooked."

"I mentioned to Bonnie maybe making a salad out of the lettuce and the other vegetables I grew, since carrots, radishes, and spinach are often put in salads. They weren't big enough to have a chance in the fair, but they're getting plenty big now. Or maybe I'll look for a recipe book in the library and see what other ideas there might be. It seems kind of like a let-down, I guess, to just chop up everything you grew and eat them in a salad rather than doing something special with them."

"I've never heard of this 'salad,'" Baze says, thoroughly intrigued. He orders "surprise tea" from Bar, who pops up with a black current-infused beverage. He blows on the tea to cool it, and takes a large gulp, enjoying it with gusto. "This 'salad' of yours sounds amazing! Why would a lot of fresh vegetables all together be a let-down? Just because it's a common practice?"

The girl blinks at him in surprise at the idea of never having heard of something so ordinary as salad. But as Baze gulps his surprise tea, and asks why salad would be a let down, something about her surprise softens back into her gentle smile.

"I guess so," she muses, turning the question over in her head. The admission leaves her feeling a bit guilty. "I guess I figured that something that's so common in my world wouldn't be special enough, even though I really like salads, especially when they've got lots of different kinds of fresh veggies in them. I guess I just took them for granted."

"I've very rarely had fresh vegetables in my life, so to have a bunch of them together on one plate seems really appealing," Baze says cheerfully, raising his earthenware teacup in a toast to her. "Taking things for granted happens to the best of us. I'm always shocked at people taking water for granted, for example. Back on Jedha, we had to wait for the water from the tap to turn red, then black, then something approximating clear, but here it's clear from the very start, and delicious, too. I'm sure there are things you do without that other people take for granted, too!"

The girl tries not to have the same shocked look at the idea of not having reliable water, but her attempts probably don't work. Rae's face shows every thought, even moreso as a child than as an adult.

"I guess it's hard to tell what's odd about one's own world, when it's the only normal one knows," she admits. "I tend to get worried looks when I mention Others, the wars and the sundown curfews back home. But then, I'm pretty sure I gave the same look to a friend of mine here who had a Welcome mat outside their door."

(ooc: Crashing for the night, so must beg slowtime. Loving your Baze! *hugs him*)

Baze drinks his tea thoughtfully. "Others--like, non-humans?" he says, cocking his head to the side and invoking a giant, lost puppy. "I can only get what a Welcome mat is from context. I'd probably give them strange looks, too."

(OOC: Aww, thank you! You're so sweet. Have a good night!)

"Non-humans, yes. Demons and weres and vampires, and ogres and pixies and all sorts of other Others. And it's common in my world to have mats outside one's front doors so people can scrape off mud and stuff from their shoes before coming in, but we'd never leave an open invitation lying there. Anything could get in."

Anything in this context specifically being vampires.

So, these wars she mentioned must be Others against humans. Hmm.

"These Others have to be invited in?" Baze says, gulping down more tea. "And are you from an Earth? It's so rare to find an Earther that has non-humans as part of her life!"

"Specifically vampires have to be invited in, and they're the most dangerous kind of Other," she says, very seriously. "They're mainly the ones we're against in the Wars. Some Others - like the nastier kinds of demon and some rogue weres - are on their side, too. Most of the rest of the Others just want to be left alone."

She nods at his second question. "I'm from the city of New Arcadia, in Independencia, on Earth. I've... noticed too that a lot of other versions of Earth don't have non-humans, which is weird because they have stories about Others, but no actual Others."

"So, there are more humans than there are Others?" Baze says, leaning his elbows on the counter. The staff on his back shifts in its sling. "Maybe all the non-humans on their Earths are just in hiding. Though I can't imagine how difficult it would be to hide an entire population of sentients."

"There are more humans than Others, at least I think so," she says, earnestly. "There are lots of different kinds of Others, though, and probably more Part-Blood Others than people think there are."

They would certainly wish to hide the fact, public sentiment and government regulations being what they are.

"I've heard that happens, sometimes, that a world has magic and Others, but it's kept secret so that not everyone knows about them. I'm not sure how it works, but apparently it does?" The girl has no clue. Others and magic have been a part of her world's history for as long as there has been history.

"You have Oth-... non-humans in your world, too? Not just humans?"

"It's more accurate to say that we have non-humans in our galaxy," Baze says, cackling. His laugh is loud and gusty; when he enjoys himself, he really enjoys himself. He'll quiet down if she shows signs of wincing or being bowled over, but until then, he's going to laugh.

"I'm constantly amazed at the fact that most Earthers don't have space travel--or if they do, it's only to the moon and back. I'm also amused that you all named your moon, Moon."

Another giggle. "But yes, our universe is populated by billions of non-humans, and thousands of different types, all with their own cultures, languages, and preferences. Jedha--the moon I'm from--used to be a destination for pilgrims from all over the galaxy."

His booming laugh - whole-hearted and enthusiastic - if anything, it makes her smile grow brighter in response. She giggles. "Of course we called it Moon. We didn't know there were other moons, at first. Just ours."

Which begs the question - are moons moons because of the Moon, or is the Moon the Moon because it is a moon?

Nope, too complicated.

"I can't imagine how many different sorts of people there must be, when the whole galaxy is... connected like that. Like one big world, with so many planets like different countries you can travel to."

Her tone is a bit wistful. It sounds amazing.

"Even just getting out of the atmosphere was a big deal a few decades ago. We've only been to the moon a few times, and we've sent out robots and things to explore Mars, the next planet over, but no people yet. I think there are plans to, eventually, but it's a long trip."

"That countries analogy is excellent," Baze says, with a quick grin. "Most of the worlds I know of had a single culture or climate on them to unite them. Jedha, the planet I grew up on, only had one major city, and small settlements besides."

He polishes off his tea. "I still can't get over the fact that you all don't have faster-than-light travel yet. We've had it for millenia."

Baze pats the counter. "So, I'm starving. What would you recommend that I eat? Salad?"

"Maybe we'll have such fast travel one day. Or the many worlds of your galaxy might be far, far in the future compared to me, and Earth's out there too, being a good galaxy citizen."

Since the formation of the global council, schools do try to emphasize kids growing up to be good global citizens, good neighbors and allies to the people of other countries also suffering as the Wars rage on. Being a part of a whole galaxy would just be a bigger neighborhood to be good neighbors in.

"But... I can hardly imagine a world with only one city!" Rae breathes, wide-eyed. "There are more cities on my world than I could name. The furthest I've been from New Arcadia is one city over, by the sea-side a few hours travel away."

She considers his question, then grins. "Starving? We can't let that happen! If you've never had one, we should definitely have salad. Would you want to order one from Bar and be surprised, or would you want to make one? I could donate the lettuce to the cause."

Edited 2017-07-22 13:41 (UTC)

"It's entirely possible! I'd never heard of Earth before I came here, but that doesn't mean the planet doesn't exist in my galaxy," Baze says, chuckling. "We haven't colonized or made contact with all the worlds out there, and I myself certainly don't know all of the ones we have."

He decides not to talk about NiJedha. Pain lies down that road, pain he's not ready to face. He will grieve, eventually, but until then, he's stuffing the urge as much as possible.

"If you wanted to contribute your lettuce, I would be honored to eat it! I don't know what all goes into a salad, so I would appreciate your help."

"That's the great thing about making a salad - you can add in everything you want," she says, hopping down from her stool, taking the pen, photo, and paper in one hand, with the head of lettuce cradled in her arm, and taking Baze's hand with her other hand, to lead him towards the kitchen.

Young Rae Seddon is not nearly as good at telling such things as her older self, but she knows some signs of when distraction is needed.

"We can add in some chopped carrots, ooh - and radishes, and maybe add in some spinach, and slice up some sweet peppers, and some chopped cauliflower and broccoli, and maybe we'll find some sugar-snap peas or something, maybe some avocado. Though there's some set kinds of salads, there's really no set Right Way of making a salad, so long as it has things you like on it."

Baze's hand is warm, and his grip is firm, but gentle. He gladly follows the tiny girl to the kitchen, smiling at her chatter. "I haven't had most of those vegetables. I've eaten peppers, but I suspect Earther peppers are different. What's a radish? And for that matter, what's an avocado?"

Edited 2017-07-22 21:24 (UTC)

She walks with him happily. This young Rae does not have the hesitation her older self has developed over having her hands touched. These hands have never been covered with anything worse than a sticky dough and flour. Perhaps mud, when she was younger, and there is nothing dishonest about mud.

She explains the best she can as they go, and only lets go of Baze's hand when they reach the kitchen and she needs both hands to put the head of lettuce down and begin pulling other ingredients from the fridge. "If you'd like, you can try each of the vegetables as we go, to see if you like them and would want them in your salad," she suggests, grinning.

She pulls lots of different kinds of vegetables from the fridge, bringing them over to the kitchen island. "Radishes are roundish root vegetables. The kind I grew this year are red on the outside, and white on the inside, though some are purple or white. They add a cold-spicy-crunchy flavor and texture to salad. We can use some of the ones I grew, but I promised to leave some for a friend, too. Avocados are... they're a kind of tree-fruit that has a thin green or dark brown husk, a... soft and light green fruit inside, and a large seed at the very center. Their flavor is... hard to describe, actually. But they're lovely."

Baze picks up some of the broccoli. "I would love to try these vegetables before we eat them all together, thank you. Should we wash them all? We can use water for that, right?"

He's so grateful to Rae for introducing him to new foods, and his gratitude shows in his smile, in his open posture, in the way he itches to pick her up and swing her around. His shoulders are loose and there isn't a line of tension in his whole body, despite the soreness from his sparring match with Ibani. He's content here. This is definitely heaven, no matter what anyone says.

"We should definitely wash them in the sink," she nods, grinning as she gets down a pair of sizable bowls and forks, and sets out a cutting board. "Dirt's good for veggies, but it's best for us if it's washed off before we eat them. That's broccoli you have there, and those dark green leaves at the table edge closest to you are spinach. Could you rinse them off for us?"

She (yes, carefully, Ivanhoe - she sees your stern look and is steadfastly ignoring it) cuts the tops off some carrots and radishes, and brings them and the head of lettuce over to the sink to be washed, as well. She scrubs the red radishes particularly well, and peels the orange carrots, all the while explaining what the ingredients are and trying to describe how they taste.

"Jedha never had enough clean water to properly wash things," Baze says, dutifully rinsing off the crowns of broccoli and leaves of spinach. "So I'm used to eating dirt. I actually have a confession: I like eating dirt. It gives me a sense of a place. The dirt here is so different from Jedha; it's soft and loamy, not all hard clay, and definitely not as salty. It's good dirt. Grows a lot of things."

He sees her cutting carrots, and, unlike the rat, that doesn't bother him at all. He's known children younger than her that handle weapons with supervision, much less cooking knives. He himself knew how to chop things from a young age, having ended up in trouble and placed on kitchen duties many times in his youth. Still, he does keep an eye on her, whistling a jaunty tune from a universe not his own.

Edited 2017-07-24 22:38 (UTC)

Ivanhoe is the protective sort, beneath his gruff exterior. Rae thinks he's sweet.

"I can understand getting a sense of place from that," Rae muses. "Garden soil is different than a place's normal soil, though. It's got fertilizer mixed in with it, sometimes, and eating that can make you sick." She tilts her head in time with the tune as she finishes up the carrots and brings them back to the cutting board, switching them out for a handful of sugar snap pea pods and a handful of cherry tomatoes to wash, then switching those out for some smalls sweet peppers in orange and yellow and red. She skips to the tune Baze whistles, enjoying working in the kitchen with a friend.

Once all the things that need to be washed have been washed and brought back over to where Rae has set up the cutting board, they're ready to begin chopping. "So, usually when we make salads, lettuces and greens like spinach make up the base of them. We can use chop up some of those first."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Baze says, raising his brows. "Thanks for telling me. I know what fertilizer is. Chirrut tends to a whole room of sapir tea plants, so he uses that there. And the temple used to have desert gardens, though we used bantha poodoo."

Baze locates a knife and a second cutting board, and begins chopping the spinach. He tastes some of it, and hums appreciatively.

"What are you planning to grow next year for the fair? Or is that too far away?"

"I'm not sure what I'll grow," she says, considering the question while she chops. "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet, really. Maybe watermelons, or cucumbers. I've never tried growing either of those, and the watermelons could go in the fruit category and I suppose cucumbers would be allowed in the vegetable category."

She hands Baze pieces of ingredients to try as she chops them up to add to the salad base of lettuce and spinach, naming them each in turn. A little broccoli floret, a cherry tomato, a sugar snap pea pod, a slice of radish...

"What is sapir? I've not heard of it."

"I don't know what a watermelon or a cucumber is," Baze says, nibbling on a broccoli floret. He loves everything she's given him so far, and has told her that. "So many new foods to try! I'll eat myself sick if I'm not careful. Might take a while with fruits and vegetables, though."

He beams. "Sapir is Chirrut's favorite tea. It didn't grow on Jedha, and wasn't available for import except in the summer and fall. It tastes of green and growing things. He drinks a ridiculous amount, now that we're here and have access to the beverage."

With each ingredient, she is adding what is chopped to their salads. "That's one of my favorite things about salads, really, especially in summer when the fruits and vegetables are fresh - the only limit to what you can put into them is what you like. Cucumbers are kind of like... green squash, but different. They're long and kind of thin, and tasty. Watermelons are big green fruit that grow on vines, and they're light red on the inside and full of water. They're so sweet and light and refreshing. They're great when they're cold and it's all hot outside."

Happiness is cold watermelon on a blazing hot day.

"Ooh, that's such a great feeling, though, to sip a favorite drink and know you grew the plant that went into making it. Sapir sounds amazing, too. That kind of... green, growing taste you can sometimes find is amazing. Spinach has something similar, and sun-warm ripe tomatoes."

After they've finished chopping and tasting the ingredients, Baze scoops up their two salad bowls and finds a couple of forks in a drawer. He carts the food over to the kitchen's island, where there are stools for him and Rae to sit down on. Baze settles his armored bulk on one, and waits for Rae to begin eating before chowing down.

"This is delicious," he says, between bites. "The vegetables all work so well together! My favorites are the tomatoes and the avocados. Thank you so much, Rae! You're a sweetheart."

He pauses in speaking to wolf down some more salad, but he's soon flapping his gums again. "You'd like sapir, I bet. We should try some. Do you want me to get some from the bar?"

Rae settles beside him to eat her salad, happily enjoying the fresh tastes of summer while they talk. In her experience, social meals are the best kind - a silent meal is an uncomfortable meal.

She beams at being called a sweetheart, giggling. "I'm glad you like the salad. Tomatoes and avocados are two of my favorites as well, and the radishes and the sugar snap peas... hee, most vegetables, really."

So there, childhood stereotypes!

"If you're using avocados, remember that you gotta add them last - avocado turns brown and mushy after too long out of its husk. It's great when you mash avocado up with chopped up tomatoes and onions and cilantro and chili powder and lime juice and salt - that makes guacamole, which is a really lovely dip to have with crisp tortilla chips or on other dishes."

She takes another bite of salad, cheerfully crunching down on pieces of carrot and radish and soft avocado. "I would love to try sapir. It sounds wonderful."

"Oh, yes, the sugar-snap peas are lovely," Baze says, nibbling on one. He slows down in his eating, wanting to make the salad last. "The jury's still out on the radishes. I love the texture, but I'm not so sure about the taste. Still, I can't imagine a salad without that extra crunch. All of the vegetables are delicious, and guacamole sounds incredible!"

He nods at her sort-of request, and briefly abandons his food and her, leaving the kitchen. When he returns, he bears a tray with a pot of tea and two steaming cups. He sets the tea service between him and Rae on the island, and offers her one of the earthenware mugs. "Be careful, it's hot."

She smiles when Baze returns, and gingerly accepts the hot mug of deeply green tea, carefully setting it down so she won't burn her fingers. "Oh, that smell," she breathes it in, closing her eyes.

"I see what you meant - green, growing things."

Baze chuckles, blowing on his own tea. "Yes," he says, beaming. "Chirrut can't get enough of it. The thought of green, lush plants... Why, that was almost an impossibility on Jedha, as a cold, desert moon. We had squat trees and carnivorous plants and rare, poisonous deeku flowers, but nothing like we've got out here. There was so much grass out here, the green of it almost burned my eyes at first."

He winks at her. "The taste is even better than the smell."

"I've not... I've never been to a desert, but I've seen pictures of some of the deserts in my world," she murmurs, inhaling the scent in a long, slow breath. She smiles at his wink. "I've never been to a jungle, either, but that's what this makes me think of. A shadowy tangle of lush greenery, dripping with the heat and humidity."

It's like nothing she's ever smelled before.

Blowing over the surface of the tea to cool it a tiny bit, she takes a small, tentative sip. Rae's soft, reactive "Mmmmmmm" a moment later is almost absent-minded as she lets herself sink into the taste. "Oh wow."

Baze is pleased at her reaction. Beyond pleased. He eases into his own tea, sipping it carefully as opposed to gulping it down, like he does with other beverages.

"I've never even seen pictures of jungles," he says, scratching his beard. "When I was a kid, I thought people made up the fact that jungles and forests exist, much less that there are planets full of them. I couldn't think beyond my own little world. It wasn't until the end of my life that I saw a forest moon, and then only briefly. You Earthers have a leg up on me, with your planet full of disparate climates."