certaininequities | IC Inbox for Ryslig

[he shows up promptly at the appointed time, on foot, hands tucked in his pockets until he sees the human standing around, and raises a hand]

Steven?

[he closes the distance between them quickly, smiling, a hand already extended in greeting]

Norman. Good to put a face to the name. Thanks for offering to talk.

[Wow, yep, that's a green guy with spider legs, alright. Steven's not sure why it catches him off-guard. He had been warned. Now the best he can do is try not to stare, jog to meet Norman halfway and accept that handshake when it's offered with a firm grasp of his own.]

Hey! Ah, no problem. It's nice to meet you. [He withdraws his hand again, moving it towards his pocket instead.] Like I said, I never really got to talk to anyone else who's in the same boat either. It'll be... nice, maybe. Or helpful. [He chuckles awkwardly.] But we should probably head to the Arcade before dipping into all that, yeah?

[He follows Norman without complaint, his gaze shifting across Queens. Peter needs the quiet to sort himself out. Just to focus on breathing.

Peter is well, Peter. He answers honestly enough.]

I- after Otto came back, we talked and I went home with him. I didn't want to intrude on Bruno's hospitality.

um

okay, I know this is probably weird.

uh

I made way too many latkes.

do... you want any?

Yaknow, home being separate from work wasn't ever something I even considered. Growing up, I was taught pretty early on that we couldn't have one without the other, so I always thought they went hand in hand.

[he opens the door for Peter, holding it with a smile]

Seems like even with two doctorates, I still have a lot to learn.

I'm sure he wouldn't have minded a bit, but ... I'm also glad you're back with Otto. I've been worried about both of you.

[what he won't say is written clearly on his face, if Peter should happen to look: he misses it there. he misses them. Reira, Sonic, Ray and Dib, too. but this isn't the time or place to push such things].

I'm sure Reira was glad to see you, too. And Dib.

[someone else who jogs up to handshakes? ~~hooray, a fellow dork!~~ Norman returns the handshake enthusiastically, already reaching into his pocket with his other hand to fish out his keycard]

You're absolutely right.

[he gestures to the clearly marked laundry room door nearby]

This'll do nicely. Wait till you see this, it's amazing.

[he holds up the black card, its holographic pattern flashing briefly in the light as he reaches up and swipes it through the door frame like a credit reader. green light envelops the doorframe, then it clicks faintly like a maglock. Norman will never, ever get tired of how amazing this little trick of Elias' is, and is smiling as he pushes the door open to reveal the front room of the Arcade, not the banks of washers and dryers Steven might have been expecting]

Go on in. You're my guest, and Elias doesn't mind guests in the least.

Edited (html fail) 2022-07-06 22:00 (UTC)

[that smile becomes perfectly certain, once Otto says he's happy about the news. Norman feels a lump rising in his throat, and uses his iced tea to cover it. it was one of his favorite old business tactics - at a function, always have a drink in your hand. it made you fidget less, seem more confident, and let you build pauses into converssations so you could think. unfortunately, it had also led to a bad habit...]

I miss them. I've missed you. I can't wait to be back there, but I'm waiting until the others have finished moving out. Reira's going to give me the go-ahead.

[he remembers that Otto had contacted him for a specific reason, and he wonders if his guess about it is right on the nose. there's a little sparkle of mischief in his eyes, now: he's in a good mood, and feels he can indulge himself in that as he asks]

So, we're gonna talk about Bruno?

[THANK GOD he did something other than Spidering. Norman's glad Peter can't see how ridiculously wide his smile is when he reads that message. time to ENCOURAGE, full speed ahead]

Of course I do. Are you up in the kitchen, still? I'll come up, I can help you clean up.

[Peter does not realize since he's just looking over his sea of culinary madness with pride and regret.]

Yeah, I'm- in the kitchen still.

Im so sorry, there is way too much. oh my god.

Edited 2022-07-06 22:28 (UTC)

[it's not long before Stormin' Norman strides into the kitchen like it's a laboratory inspection, grinning from ear to ear and wearing one of the shirts Peter's given him.]

Peter! ... Whoa, you weren't kidding. How big was the recipe s'posed ta be?

[The counter spaces have been swallowed up by a comical amount of latkes. The teenager looks over his kingdom of potato and onion with a wiggle of his whiskers. A weak slightly embarrassed smile settles over his features as he turns to look at Norman.]

Uh, I didn't really follow a written recipe I was kinda just- remembering how Uncle Ben would make them. So...

[He waves a hand awkwardly.]

They're good though, promise!

[that little whisker wiggle puts the comedic tableau right over the top, and Norman laughs as he crosses to the sink and washes his hands.]

And knowing you, you wanted to be sure you had enough to share with everyone. Well, I guess you do now!

[he's still grinning as he dries his hands off and reaches for one of the latkes]

How long d'they keep? Do you figure maybe we could freeze them?

[he's never had a latke before, but he's not about to let that stop him from supporting Peter - and the smell filling the kitchen is amazing, to boot. he takes a bite, pleasantly surprised at the way the crunch gives way to something much creamier and richer than the hash brown texture he was expecting. his eyes widen]

MMH.

I'll have to par things down a lot whenever Hanukkah happens. [He coaxes his fingers through his fur. His smile warms up a little further]

If you freeze them, I think a few months? We never really had any left over beyond the first few days.

[Peter blinks a little, brightening further.]

Oh, right, I guess you've never had one before?

If you tell me how much you used of everything, I could help you figure it out. It's just a matter of proportions - chemistry for food, right?

[he winks, then pops the rest of the latke in his mouth and deliberates their shelf-life]

I hadn't, no - they're fantastic. So much better than hash browns... I wonder what the difference is?

[don't mind him, he's just going to take another one .... yoink]

[Otto's stomach clenches when he hears that Norman missed him. It shouldn't be a surprise, and it isn't, but hearing it voiced aloud still makes him nervous for reasons he can't quite describe. ...Or maybe it's excitement instead. He can't tell. So just as Norman did, he takes a quick sip of iced tea to try and mask the feeling. To settle it.

Quite frankly, the next topic of conversation won't be any easier on him. It helps that Norman's so lighthearted about it, at least. He can try to mimic that.]

... There's a lot to say about Bruno. [It's stated with a wry smile of his own.] He came to see me today. To talk about... Well, I'm sure you already know.

[Steven watches with a curious gaze as Norman pulls off his little door trick. He's seen some crazy things before, even before arriving in Ryslig, but it still causes his eyes to widen. He approaches the open door somewhat cautiously, craning his head to peer into the Arcade as if expecting it to be some sort of illusion. But it's not, is it?]

Blimey... Is uh... Is that going to turn back to normal after we've gone through? I'd hate for everyone else in the building to carry a basket of their dirty socks and knickers into an arcade.

[Even so, he steps through the opening just fine. No reason to distrust it!]

You've got me there.

[he gives Otto a sheepish smile, but it doesn't last, and he finds himself wishing he'd opted for ginger ale over iced tea. he doesn't frown or wince: instead there's open care and concern in his eyes]

I hope you'll forgive me for not saying anything. He wanted to speak to you himself... partly because I didn't feel comfortable telling him about Rosie. It wasn't my place or my business.

[it feels good to laugh, and even better to be trusted. Norman feels something in his chest loosen at the feeling - relief? hope? gratitude - and follows Steven into the Arcade. Once they're both inside, he locks the door and opens it once more- now it's looking out over Lake Dala, the view from the front door of Hill House. he closes it once more, freeing it up for anyone else who might need it]

No, as far as I can tell it's portable quantum physics ... this door can connect to almost any door in the peninsula while it's open. When it's closed, the last door it connected to goes back to itself.

... Though if I start seeing stray socks around, I suppose we've solved one of the great mysteries of the world.

[Rosie... Dammit, Bruno doesn't know about Rosie, does he? Otto's going to have to tell him himself. That's not a conversation he looks forward to, but it can wait a bit longer, can't it? God, he hopes so. He's already juggling a few too many stress factors at the moment.]

Oh no, it's... It's fine. It's better that I heard it from him personally. [He pauses for a second, his gaze flitting down to the bottle in his hands.] And it wasn't a bad conversation. Just surprising, mostly.

[The door trick just keeps getting sweeter, doesn't it? For a split second, Steven considers pledging himself to the Fourth God. Then he remembers what sort of dealings with a god he just got out of back home, and shakes the temptation from his mind. He chuckles quietly at the joke.]

Hah, that would be something, wouldn't it? But it's uh... It's nice to know stuff like this exists around here. [With that, he finally turns around to take in the Arcade properly. Wow, it really is exactly what the name implies.] ...Is Elias here? Can he see us?

Well, it's- potato and onion with a binding agent. It's a whole thing. I used flour I found, since we didn't have chicken schmaltz. [Peter looks around at his latke disaster trying to remember specifics.] I literally have no idea anymore, I kinda just went for it?

Baking is kinda more science than like cooking a lot of the time-? I mean, that's what May said whenever she ruined a cake. [His mood briefly dips at mention of May, but he tries to push past it.]

Yeah, I'm sure he would've been okay with it, but I just... well, I wanted to go home. [He also managed to anger Isabela, and Peter isn't going to overstay a welcome after he's tanked things. He isn't as anxious about her reaction, but he isn't going to prod at it either.] We've- well, I've been worrying about you too. I know you can take care of yourself, but... I- yeah.

[He doesn't want to speak for Otto. He doesn't want to make the situation weird. He rubs at the back of his neck nervously.]

You ...

[the fact that Peter still has the capacity to be concerned for him after everything is touching, almost painfully so. Norman looks up at the sky to keep from tearing up, and notices that the Cube even accounts for a few pigeons fluttering by]

Awh, Peter. I appreciate it, I do. But I'm waiting to hear from Reira. She's the one who invited me there in the first place, and it's her house: so it's ultimately up to her.

Schmaltz? ['the heck is a schmaltz', his face plainly says] That's a real word?

[Norman plz. at the mention of May, Norman kicks himself internally as well, but shakes his head]

There's still science in it. But it's more about relative properties and reactions in broader terms. If you just, uh, 'went for it', maybe we can reverse-engineer this with a kitchen scale and a little common sense.

IC Inbox for Ryslig

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<P.B.P> mid-july

care to wrap this one?

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<DrOsborn<

<P.B.P>

_> Action

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