Eat, Drink and Be Merry [Open to the Non-Mission Folk]

[ghost_bait]

There was lots of things to do after waking from her Snake and Holly curse. Like, being hugged until she was breathless by Tess, taking her first real sleep without the threat of a nightmare looming over her head (which, incidentally, made her sleep right through Stacy's all-call) or figuring out how to make okayu with the food provided. This was

Comments

[craaazyisland]

Steve sat out of this mission. He didn't particularly feel in the spirit of any kind of holiday, so he figured his presence would just be counterproductive. Christmas in particular held some painful memories for him. He had no family to spend it with anymore. It was only days after the fact that he died, and any holiday he spent at Rockfort Prison had a tendency to lose its luster.

Still, he was feeling better after his talk with Luke (under duress) and promised himself he was done being upset, and that he'd talk to Claire-- without making a scene or an idiot of himself-- when he next saw her. He was going to take the mission days off to do some thinking and get a hold on his emotions.

So he had been headed to the sensoriums only to find that they were taken. Curiosity got the better of him and he always liked to just poke his head in and see what other people made them into-- so he was surprised to find Miku, in what was probably her house, hard at work in the kitchen. This was the first time he'd seen her since the curse was broken.

"Hey, Miku? Am I bothering you?" he asked warily as he came in the door. His plantsuit immediately faded to jeans, a T-shirt and a plaid overshirt.

[ghost_bait]

Miku looked up and blew her bangs up out of her face a couple of times before smiling at him, "Hi!" The chunks of vegetables and chicken were scooped up and dumped in the okayu as she continued to look at him, "You're not bothering me at all. Actually, I was just thinking about you and the okayu, so, I was attempting to make it before I saw you. Just to be sure I still remembered." She washed her hands and gave the pot a good stir before putting the lid back on.

"How are you?"

[craaazyisland]

He took a moment to pick at the clothes the sensorium picked out for him. Man, it was nice to be in something loose-fitting again. Or at least to hallucinate something loose-fitting. A glance back in hallway leading to the front door showed that everybody had their shoes off, so Steve quickly discarded his and nudged them alongside the wall. See, he could be culturally sensitive.

"I'm okay," he said. "Kinda blah about the holiday and all, but I'll get over it. How are you? You look a lot better. I'm really glad you're not cursed anymore."

[ghost_bait]

Miku rocked back on her heels and bobbed her head a little, "Well, that makes two of us on both counts - it was August for me, so it seems too early to be dealing with Christmas." Besides, she didn't have a boyfriend, anyway. It was just another holiday they half-celebrated. Though, Miku did like the thought of having some Christmas cake and hot tea.

"So, I guess I mean to say I'm fine and I'm sorry I didn't come to see you sooner." Miku apologized. But, he was here now, and that was important, right? Yes, yes it was. It made her chest feel full and happy, just like it did when she saw Tess.

[craaazyisland]

"It was December for me, but I just..." Steve hesitated before saying anymore. How exactly was he supposed to explain it? 'Didn't feel right celebrating Christmas in a death camp'? 'Can't enjoy the holiday because I died three days later'? "I don't know. I just don't really feel like the holiday anymore."

But that was depressing, so he hurriedly changed the subject, making his way out into the living room to look around. "Don't worry about it. You probably wouldn't have found me if you tried to. I wasn't feeling real well earlier this week." A pause. "Not from that or anything, just in general. This is the first time I've been out of my room in a while."

[ghost_bait]

"Oh, I see," Miku replied, though she certainly didn't look like she quite got why he had an aversion to it. Then again, Christmas was something else in America, wasn't it? He probably missed his family.

"Well, I'm glad you did come out. I would've been disappointed if I hadn't been able to find you." That sounded a little more personal that she'd meant it to, now that she thought about it. Miku reddened slightly and continued. "Um... the okayu won't be ready for a little while, but... do you want to look around? I'm sorry, I really only cleaned up this part of the house, but..." Miku looked sheepishly at him. "So you'll have to excuse the mess."

[craaazyisland]

Steve looked around the house a little warily. "What mess?" he asked, sounding genuinely amused. "This place is totally spotless. You could probably eat off the floor with no problem."

He was kind of curious what the rest of the house looked like-- he'd never been in a Japanese house, after all. Hell, he'd never been out of America, except for the few fishing trips to Canada his family took. Or the time he was thrown in a South American island gulag. Still, he thought it would be kind of weird looking around somebody else's house alone. Even a virtual one.

"This is a really nice house," he commented, walking over to lean on the bar area and watch what she was doing. "This is, uh, your house?"

[ghost_bait]

"I..." Miku laughed at herself. "I guess you're right, but please don't!"

"Anyway, no, I just live here." Her home was much further away, and wholly abandoned. "This house belongs to my mentor, Rei. I've been living with her and her fiancee for a little while now. Or, I was, anyway." Miku shrugged and checked the okayu through the glass lid as it bubbled cheerfully. "Upstairs are the bedrooms and the attic... and..." Hmm... did they have anything interesting in the house he might be interested in? Miku pursed her lips in thought.

"Well, we have a dark room."

[craaazyisland]

"It's huge," he added. "Probably twice the size of my house. I'll have to show you my house sometime." When he was sure he could picture it in the sensorium without adding in virtual versions of his parents, or faded memories of bloodstains on the walls. Miku would probably not be interested in his house if he ended up sobbing in a corner when it appeared.

He peered into the kitchen. It looked like pretty ordinary kitchen fare to him. "So do you do a lot of cooking and cleaning around here?"

[ghost_bait]

Miku nodded, "And also helping Rei while she's working, or running her errands..." She shrugged, "Whatever needs done to make life easier on Rei."

Considering the okayu needed to cook for a little while, Miku turned down the heat and looked around nervously. She was so terrible at entertaining people.

"Shall I, ah, show you around?"

[craaazyisland]

"Sure," he agreed. He was secretly relieved because he would have felt very rude wandering around someone's house while they were home. Steve may have been kind of awkward and oblivious sometimes, but he was polite. His mama didn't raise no rude boy. "If I go myself I might get lost."

Or eaten by a ghost, whichever. You never knew with Miku's house.

[ghost_bait]

"It isn't that big," Miku teased and pulled her apron off, putting on a small hook next to the doorway. She beckoned to him and opened the door between the living room and the foyer. "We'll go through the front of the house, first. I... guess you've already seen part of it, though." Miku smiled.

[craaazyisland]

"Yeah, you guys've got quite the entryway," he said, grabbing his shoes to go put them by the door when they passed by. It really was an impressive house. They even had a skylight. Steve had no idea photographers made that much money.

"Where is this house, anyway? Is it in Tokyo, or..." He tried desperately to think of another place in Japan.

[ghost_bait]

"Technically, we're in the Tokyo prefecture, just... not in the big city. This is Mizuho." Well, imaginary Mizuho, anyway. "And she," Miku nodded to the sleeping cat in the window, "is Ruri." Queen of all she surveyed if the way she ignored the people staring at her was any indication.

"So, let's see. This is the foyer, and there's the shoe box for your shoes, Steve." Miku smiled. "And down here..." she scurried away down the hall. "Is the shower room and laundry room... the bathroom... and this..." Miku stepped in onto the tatami floor of the small, mostly bare room. "Is the more 'traditional' room, the Altar room." Yuu's picture was there now, as were the black tablets with names inscribed on them in difficult kanji. Yuu hadn't minded Miku putting her tablets up with them.

[craaazyisland]

"Oh, you have a cat..." Steve looked kind of pleased at that as he stashed his shoes where she pointed. His own family had a dog, who he'd always told himself his uncle must have adopted after the Burnsides disappeared. It made sense and on top of everything else, he hadn't wanted to worry about her.

He seemed mostly impressed by the altar room. It was unlikely he'd ever seen one like it... except on TV. "What's the altars for?" Maybe religious altars, or something like that?

[ghost_bait]

"Mmhmm! A present from my parents." After they'd died, but that was something she didn't want to talk about. "Ah... well," how did she explain it, exactly? "It's for the people who have died. You pray, and talk to them... ah... things like that." There was a little bowl of white rice there now for them, before the black tablets and Yuu's picture.

"This is a good room to think in, though, because it can be closed off with the sliding doors, and no one can really bother you." It was also far away enough from the living areas that even if you stubbed your toe, you couldn't hear anything. Miku took Steve's warm hand in her chilly and pulled him after her. "But, the really interesting room is this one." They walked to the end of the hall. "The dark room. It's where Rei develops her pictures. I was learning how to do it, too." She opened the door and flicked the switch. The room turned red.

"Oh, wait. Wrong one." Miku groped for the other switch and turned it on to the proper one. "Here we are." White lights turned on instead. The room smelled of acidic chemicals and film. Photos hung on strings, drying. "Neat, isn't it?"