Pumpkin Pie #7
Pumpkin Pie #7. Special Effects and Blueberry Yogurt #26. Double Take
with Hot Fudge, Caramel and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1280's
Malt Prompt : Summer 2011 #86 : Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. (Albert Einstein)
Caramel, spoilery caramel. Kuro has only made an appearance once before.
Kuro had just begun to lay out an offering of flowers at the foot of the earth shrine when Reida stopped beside where he knelt. Arms firmly folded across her chest, she turned to glower at the rest of the temple. He neatly laid a third bloom in line with its fellows rather than acknowledge her emphatic sigh.
“I don’t understand your foolish need to make an offering at every temple we come across,” she grumbled.
“Force of habit?” Kuro shrugged and added a fourth flower to the offering. “Father was good about drilling a healthy fear of the gods into the lot of us at an early age.” Her sour look was fixed on him now as he fumbled for a fifth. “I can’t just walk by a temple and not do anything. It makes my skin crawl. It’s like any moment one of them is sure to come down and smite me. Now, if you don’t mind, I was in the middle of prayers.”
Reida sniffed and settled against the wall, back to glaring at their fellow patrons. “Funny how the world just goes on, like nothing’s happened. Even you, and you know better.” How the woman could stand there between the gods’ own altars and dismiss them like that, whether they were listening or not, he didn’t know. “Oh, please,” she said, catching his disapproving look. “It’s not like they can hear you.”
“Would you shush?” he hissed, striking a match to light the first of the candles that ringed the altar.
“I’m more likely to smite you than any god,” Reida continued. “In fact, I think I should for dragging me in here,” she added with a toothy grin.
“Shh!”
“What for? As I just said-”
“She has ears.” He nodded towards the priestess at the far end of the room.
“Damn, she’s headed this way.”
“Please, try to be pleasant.” He lit the last of the candles, watching out of the corner of his eye as she turned to fix him with a vicious look. “For me?”
“For you, huh?” Reida drew the words out as she drummed her fingers on her arm. “What’s in it for me?”
Kuro sniffed. “As if you need to ask. What’s ever in it for you?”
Her lips twitched back towards a grin as she mulled it over. “I hate small talk. And I hate making it with priests. Especially now.” As she looked back to the priestess, the frown was winning out. “Gods, she’s looking. I hate it when they look.” She kneaded a hand over her cheek, as if touching it might evoke a change.
“What you need is a hat,” Kuro offered. It seemed the priestess’s progress was being slowed by the other patrons, and half the room still separated her from them, but she scarcely took her eyes off Reida for a moment.
“What I need is something with pincers,” she snapped, barely above a whisper now, as she met the woman’s stare. “A few spells. I’d like to have something that would give them boils or rot their eyes for looking at me like that.”
“If that’s really what you want to do with magic once you’ve got it back. Where are you going?” He reached out to catch her arm as she swept past.
Reida pulled free of his grasp. “I’m leaving. Unless you want me to talk to her, which is bound to result in my stabbing her in the eye." She stopped. "You know, on second thought-”
“No, no.” Kuro waved her on. “Just go. I’ll take care of the priestess.”
“Rats,” she said, firmly, when she’d gone no more than a few paces.
“Hmm?” He looked over his shoulder to find her suddenly beaming at the idea.
“That’s what I need to start carrying around,” she said. “A few lovely little pestilence filled beasts.”
“Yes, that sounds brilliant.”
“What? It’s not like I could get sick. And next time we pass a temple,” she added, waggling a finger at him, “keep in mind I will smite you if you go in.”
With that, she stalked out of the temple, thrusting her nose in the air and turning her shoulder as the priestess finally managed to extricate herself from the rest of the worshippers and hurry towards her.
Wide eyed and wringing her hands, the woman settled for approaching Kuro instead. “Excuse me, sir,” she said, with a nervous glance to the doors. “Is something amiss with your wife?”
Kuro nearly choked at the word “wife” and covered it with a laugh. The woman was incredibly lucky Reida had stormed off when she did. “No, no,” he said, and the priestess looked even more concerned. “She’s fine, just a bit… touchy.”
“Well,” she said slowly, with another look over her shoulder, as if Reida might come sweeping back in at any moment. “If you don’t mind me saying, I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I couldn’t help but notice, she looks-”
Kuro looked to the central altar and the woman stopped short as she followed his gaze. Of course he’d heard it before. “Just like the statue. I know.”
CANDY FOR ALL!
with Hot Fudge, Caramel and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1280's
Malt Prompt : Summer 2011 #86 : Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. (Albert Einstein)
Caramel, spoilery caramel. Kuro has only made an appearance once before.
Kuro had just begun to lay out an offering of flowers at the foot of the earth shrine when Reida stopped beside where he knelt. Arms firmly folded across her chest, she turned to glower at the rest of the temple. He neatly laid a third bloom in line with its fellows rather than acknowledge her emphatic sigh.
“I don’t understand your foolish need to make an offering at every temple we come across,” she grumbled.
“Force of habit?” Kuro shrugged and added a fourth flower to the offering. “Father was good about drilling a healthy fear of the gods into the lot of us at an early age.” Her sour look was fixed on him now as he fumbled for a fifth. “I can’t just walk by a temple and not do anything. It makes my skin crawl. It’s like any moment one of them is sure to come down and smite me. Now, if you don’t mind, I was in the middle of prayers.”
Reida sniffed and settled against the wall, back to glaring at their fellow patrons. “Funny how the world just goes on, like nothing’s happened. Even you, and you know better.” How the woman could stand there between the gods’ own altars and dismiss them like that, whether they were listening or not, he didn’t know. “Oh, please,” she said, catching his disapproving look. “It’s not like they can hear you.”
“Would you shush?” he hissed, striking a match to light the first of the candles that ringed the altar.
“I’m more likely to smite you than any god,” Reida continued. “In fact, I think I should for dragging me in here,” she added with a toothy grin.
“Shh!”
“What for? As I just said-”
“She has ears.” He nodded towards the priestess at the far end of the room.
“Damn, she’s headed this way.”
“Please, try to be pleasant.” He lit the last of the candles, watching out of the corner of his eye as she turned to fix him with a vicious look. “For me?”
“For you, huh?” Reida drew the words out as she drummed her fingers on her arm. “What’s in it for me?”
Kuro sniffed. “As if you need to ask. What’s ever in it for you?”
Her lips twitched back towards a grin as she mulled it over. “I hate small talk. And I hate making it with priests. Especially now.” As she looked back to the priestess, the frown was winning out. “Gods, she’s looking. I hate it when they look.” She kneaded a hand over her cheek, as if touching it might evoke a change.
“What you need is a hat,” Kuro offered. It seemed the priestess’s progress was being slowed by the other patrons, and half the room still separated her from them, but she scarcely took her eyes off Reida for a moment.
“What I need is something with pincers,” she snapped, barely above a whisper now, as she met the woman’s stare. “A few spells. I’d like to have something that would give them boils or rot their eyes for looking at me like that.”
“If that’s really what you want to do with magic once you’ve got it back. Where are you going?” He reached out to catch her arm as she swept past.
Reida pulled free of his grasp. “I’m leaving. Unless you want me to talk to her, which is bound to result in my stabbing her in the eye." She stopped. "You know, on second thought-”
“No, no.” Kuro waved her on. “Just go. I’ll take care of the priestess.”
“Rats,” she said, firmly, when she’d gone no more than a few paces.
“Hmm?” He looked over his shoulder to find her suddenly beaming at the idea.
“That’s what I need to start carrying around,” she said. “A few lovely little pestilence filled beasts.”
“Yes, that sounds brilliant.”
“What? It’s not like I could get sick. And next time we pass a temple,” she added, waggling a finger at him, “keep in mind I will smite you if you go in.”
With that, she stalked out of the temple, thrusting her nose in the air and turning her shoulder as the priestess finally managed to extricate herself from the rest of the worshippers and hurry towards her.
Wide eyed and wringing her hands, the woman settled for approaching Kuro instead. “Excuse me, sir,” she said, with a nervous glance to the doors. “Is something amiss with your wife?”
Kuro nearly choked at the word “wife” and covered it with a laugh. The woman was incredibly lucky Reida had stormed off when she did. “No, no,” he said, and the priestess looked even more concerned. “She’s fine, just a bit… touchy.”
“Well,” she said slowly, with another look over her shoulder, as if Reida might come sweeping back in at any moment. “If you don’t mind me saying, I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I couldn’t help but notice, she looks-”
Kuro looked to the central altar and the woman stopped short as she followed his gaze. Of course he’d heard it before. “Just like the statue. I know.”
CANDY FOR ALL!