Saturday multipup morning post

[ostro_goth]

This Saturday morning, several people are more or less quietly having breakfast:

Teja is drinking tea from a large, handmade green mug painted with blue butterflies, clearly the work of an ambitious child, but made with the assistance of an adult who very much knew what they were doing; people who know Teja a bit better will easily guess that these people were Egill and Pyrrha, respectively. While he does so, he is reading an article on his computer that makes him feel incredibly vindicated. A historian, it seems, had clearly stated that the year the Ostrogoth's final war began in earnest was the objectively worst year in human history. Teja, and all his people, lived through the worst time anybody ever had! No wonder he is a bit grim about it all; it was a time to turn anyone depressive, except such naturally sunny souls as Totila or Adalgoth...

A few tables over, Dr. Hannibal Lecter is eating a dainty Japanese breakfast on a small tray: green sencha tea, a bowl of miso soup, a bowl of rice, some pickled vegetables, and a whole entire smallish smoked fish that Dr. Lecter is elegantly taking apart using only the tips of his red lacquered chopsticks. While he is doing so, he is listening to some music from a small speaker on his table, a little thing that looks both minimalistic and very expensive and that emits, just now, the sounds of a brass band meandering through instrumental soundscapes that sound both meditative and jazzy, both avantgarde and pleasing. Hannibal, in any case, looks very pleased by it.

Wen Ning is hanging upside-down from the rafters and dangling lazily while eating fluffy wheat dumplings. While he is doing so, two of the forge cats are chasing around underneath him, occasionally jumping up to catch the long dark hair swinging back and forth above them. If one manages to catch it, Wen Ning will give them a piece of the dumpling, which they eat quite happily. If Milliways is the home of the weird, Wen Ning reckons, he'll just be as weird as he wants, for once.

Jin Guangyao is curled up on a fluffy rug by the fireplace, furiously typing on his tablet computer. He has a gaiwan full of tie guan yin Oolong tea beside him, taking a sip whenever he stops to think; the rats keep the hot water (and occasionally fresh tea leaves) coming, and otherwise try to give him a wide berth. Something is definitely off with Jin Guangyao today; he seems to be quietly but very, very efficiently panicking, turned in on himself with silent, furious concentration.

Tang Fan had walked up to the Bar ordering "Breakfast, surprise me" and has ended up with a variety of dishes from different places on a large tray. He's sitting at a table now with that tray and his beloved pale green jade chopsticks (one of them repaired with gold), and selectively nibbling from all the dishes, which include:

-- a stack of banana pancakes with maple syrup
-- three croissants and a small bowl of strawberry jam
-- a helping of black pudding, baked beans, fried tomatoes and mushrooms and scrambled eggs, with toast
-- a pair of Bavarian weisswurst with coarse sweet mustard and a soft pretzel
-- and a bowl of Klingon rokeg blood pie.

[[OOC: Tell me whom you want in your tag, or you might get all or any of them. Open until it scrolls off the page.]]
tinytags: wen ning, jin guangyao, tang fan

Comments

[space_puffin]

The rafters are Puffy's domain, in his opinion, and Wen Ning catches his attention. He patters over and gives a solid squawk. "Hello!" the box on his neck translates.

[undead_radish_seller]

Wen Ning waves at him. Weird is good, right?

"Hello, bird," he says, waving up at him.

[space_puffin]

"What doing?" Puffy peered down at him.

[undead_radish_seller]

"Hanging out," Wen Ning says, giggling. "Would you like a bit of dumpling, too?"

[space_puffin]

"YES!" Did he just get offered food?

Yes.

If he ever turns down food it's likely coffee.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

Lup is reading at a table when she notices a hand come down to feed one of the cats. She follows the hand to see a guy hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey," she calls out. "You, uh...comfortable up there?"

[undead_radish_seller]

"Oh yes, all good," Wen Ning says, still upside-down and smiling widely. "These are two of the forge cats, Count and Nahts. Aren't they great little predators, catching my hair like that?"

[phantasmal_resplendent]

Lup smiles. "Yeah, they're tough little guys, for sure." She wanders over, and wiggles her fingers, trying to get the cats's attention.

Then, turning back up to the upside-down man, "Doesn't all the blood rush to your head like that?"

[undead_radish_seller]

"No, my blood doesn't circulate the way it does in living people any more," Wen Ning says guilelessly, while the cats sniff her fingers.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

"Living people..." Lup murmurs, repeating his words.

Then she notices the black lines on his skin.

"Wait, are you undead? Like a lich or something?"

[mogget_cat]

At some point while Wen Ning is occupied entertaining the forge cats, a soft weight settles on one of his legs, vibrating with strong purrs as it peers down at him from the rafter.

[undead_radish_seller]

"Oh!" Wen Ning giggles, "another cat! There can never be too many cats."

[mogget_cat]

"No, there never can," Yrael agrees, purring mightily. "I had hoped Wei Wuxian would not have been the only one to return, after having been lost."

Smug for being right? Only a little*.


(*a lot)

[undead_radish_seller]

"Oh yes, I'm so glad Wei-gongzi is back among the living, too!" Wen Ning says, beaming widely. "And much more relaxed than he used to be. And my sister is alive, too! Some people from here saved her."

[mogget_cat]

"Yesss," purrs the cat, pleased. "And now you."

All is well, clearly.

Yrael rests his chin on Wen Ning's knee. "I am glad you are still fierce, and not yet merely a corpse."

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede, sitting outside and unbeknownst to Hannibal, had been surrounded by a passel of lean, elegant dogs, and three or four puppies, letting them run and play in a relatively safe place--since the bar decided to surprise him from his home.

But one of them, a smallish and inquisitive puppy, fawn-colored with a white ear and paws, is currently sitting at Hannibal's feet with a curious nose sniffing the air. He doesn't whine, isn't noisy about it, just waiting to figure out what he smells.

[cook_the_rude]

"Hello, little one!" Hannibal says, holding out his hand for the puppy to sniff. "You will be a beautiful animal one day, and you are already very sweet."

[the_cupbearer]

The little dog smells Hannibal's hand eagerly, and clambers up to rest his paws on Hannibal's thigh, sniffing up his arm and into the air with a tiny whine as his mismatched ears perk. His tail wags, and his tongue lolls out for a moment as if tasting something.

Meanwhile, Ganymede does a quick headcountand comes up one short. He whistles, and calls out the puppy's name, but through the door it's muffled and unclear, and the puppy doesn't respond.

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal simply picks up the eager puppy and places him in his lap to stroke the cute mismatched ears and mumur sweet dog-appropriate nothings.

[the_cupbearer]

About ten minutes later, Ganymede comes in and scans the room, expression easing when he sees Hannibal holding the dog.

"There you are," he chuckles, coming over and ruffling the soft fur, standing behind Hannibal and getting a yip of happiness out of the puppy. "Little rascal. I see you've met Harley," Ganymede murmurs. "And become fast friends, evidently."

[awkwardbot]

Here's the thing: I have kind of a hard time telling what passes for "normal" with humans outside the Corporation Rim. And Wen Ning's habitus was so different from that of any human in settled space that I had even less of an idea of what was normal for him.

So how was I supposed to think about him eating while hanging upside-down? Was he trying to be funny? Was it a religious observance? Was he just more comfortable that way? How did the cats fit in?

It was good to see him anyway, even if I was very confused. "Wen Qionglin," I said. "I, um...welcome back?"

[undead_radish_seller]

"Hello!" Wen Ning says, hopping off the rafters and standing in front of the SecUnit. "It is good to see you."

[awkwardbot]

Okay, things felt a little less weird and uncomfortable. (Although don't get me wrong, they were still pretty weird and uncomfortable.)

"We thought you were dead. There was a funeral and everything."

That was pretty stupid of me, actually. There was a 98.7% probability that he'd already heard as much from Lan Zhan or Wei Ying.

[undead_radish_seller]

"I am very sorry to have caused everybody so much anguish," Wen Ning says. "You shouldn't have bothered."

[awkwardbot]

"What, seriously? Why are you apologizing for getting murdered?" Wait, no. "Apparently murdered."