November Catch All

[tempredmental]

🧙 WHO: Keith, Open
⚔️️ WHAT: November stuff
🕒 WHEN: Throughout November (haha)
🗺️ WHERE: Around and about, depending on what prompt it is.
⚠️ WARNINGS: Each prompt will be a thread, so I'll note warnings on the threads

Links to top levels:

Lettuce Guarding

Magical Flu

Fear Gorta

Paralysis Cure

Sleep Demons

Floor Is Lava

DoppleDinner

Comments

[tempredmental]

[Or... he had something!]

Gather them up. I can freeze them in place, and then we can move them outside to dispose of them in one shot.

[He was less likely to bring down the building or cause catastrophic damage when freezing something. He was too keyed up from the fight at the moment to do careful fireballs.]

[milkmycattle]

Okay!

[ Crow starts to enchant the shadows in the room, he coaxes the shadows to weave into this dark veil that gathers up the feisty tomatoes one by one and bundles them up into a makeshift sack void of light. From the outside, they could see little hands and feet, punching and kicking the shadows to be freed. Even as Crow holds the sack, it rocks violently.]

All right! Time to take out the trash! I don't think I can hold this spell for much longer! These bastards are strong!

[Crow starts shaking the sack as he drags the tomato army outside.]

Keep still!

[tempredmental]

[Before they could break free, Keith shot a beam of ice, freezing the group of tomatoes inside the shadow sack into a solid block. It was heavy, but they weren't squirming at least. Once outside, though...]

Okay... I can roast them here. I didn't want to damage the building. But we've got enough open space that I can burn them without an issue. That should take care of all of them, including the first one... so it should stop the spell.

[Fire-roasted tomato puree anyone?]

[milkmycattle]

[Freezing the sack does make it heavier, but Crow manages just fine. He then sets the ice block on the ground and steps away a good distance to allow Keith enough room to use his fireball. He then shields his eyes with his hands for good measure.]

Let's hope! Go for it!

[Fire-roasted tomato puree does sound pretty good! If they could salvage some of the tomatoes, maybe they can toss them into a nice chili or make them into salsa! Now this line of thinking is making Crow hungry!]

[tempredmental]

[So that worked... Keith created a stone ring to make sure they didn't immediately run and cause more havoc, then released the ice just long enough to start the fire. The tomatoes weren't happy, of course, but they were still vegetables (fruit? whatever), and cooked up nicely once they stopped trying to put themselves out.]

You know... this actually kind of smelled... like spaghetti sauce?

[milkmycattle]

[ Crow has known a few elemental mages here, but he hasn't seen anyone with as much mastery as Keith. It's cool how he's able to switch from one element to the other. Though the real show is the fire, which Crow feels a certain affinity for since that was his element in his homeworld.

Somehow watching the tomatoes burn up is quite satisfying. Especially that smoky, charred tomato-like smell that makes his stomach growl. Yes, even after all of that, he's pretty hungry.]

Hm? Do you think it's edible? Why waste it? Let's make pasta or pizza? Maybe both if we have enough sauce!

[tempredmental]

[Keith's stronger element was fire, which was why it was so easy for him to shift towards. He was strongest with that and air second. The others, like freezing the tomatoes in the first place, were a little tougher.

Still, he looked back at Crow when he started suggesting food. He shrugged.]

I don't know. I mean, I've never eaten a living tomato before. [Well, as in one that had a face and could attack. Tomatoes were all technically living, as they were plants, after all. But, still...] I mean, we at least should try to clean this up anyway. Just, hopefully there isn't a lot of dirt or anything in it that would make it less edible.

[milkmycattle]

[It did touch the ground, didn't it? Well, five-second rule! Even if it's more like a minute or two now, they're facing a food shortage, so it would be a shame if the tomatoes went to waste. The shadowy sack seems to stay mostly intact even with the ice and fire. It certainly gets frostbitten and burnt.

Crow gathers his shadows around his hands to act as makeshift oven gloves. He picks up the smoking sack from the ground, and liquid-like substance sloshes around as he picks it up.]

Let's see if we can salvage it! And then we eat!

[ Crow walks back into the house, tossing the sack into the sink.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith watched him, and then shrugged. Oh well. Might as well. Maybe this guy won't be as bad in the kitchen as Shiro.

He followed him inside.]

What did you have in mind for fixing it?

[milkmycattle]

[ Well, sorry to disappoint, Keith. He's nowhere close to a chef, but he can make simple stuff like pasta!

Crow carefully unravels the shadows from the charred tomatoes, and it does seem like the rabid tomatoes are dead. Though it's kind of eerie to gaze at them now since they still have their appendages and facial expression suspended in motion.]

Well, of course, I'm going to wash them first. Cut off their limbs and peel the skin, so it should be like a normal tomato after that. Even cooked down, it should still have that fire-roasted flavor, too.

[Surprisingly, Crow doesn't seem too squeamish about this. He's a little desensitized since he lived and worked on his parent's farm.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith made a bit of a face at the 'cut off their limbs' part, but he nodded. Right. He could deal with this.]

Okay... uh... [Oh... the faces. Mean little jerks. That was... odd... to look at.] Did you need help?

[milkmycattle]

[It certainly isn't for the faint of heart. At the offer for help, Crow doesn't see anything wrong with it.]

Sure! If you want to help me cut up these guys, you can! Or if you want to start cutting up some garlic? That'll work too!

[tempredmental]

.....

[Keith considered it for a moment.]

I can handle the garlic and anything else you might want to put in...

[Sounded better than 'cut off the limbs'... That kind of triggered some unpleasant memories.]

[milkmycattle]

[ Sorry, Keith, just don't look! Crow doesn't turn away from his task as he thinks of what else the other mage can assist with.]

Sure, you cut up some onion and basil too! Maybe we can start the water to boil for the pasta, although the sauce will take a bit longer to cook down, everything else can cook in the meanwhile. What else do you want in it? Some meat? We can do sausages or beef?

[He then realizes something, with everything that's happened, he didn't quite catch this guy's name. He stops what he's doing to look toward Keith.]

By the way, the name's Crow! And thanks for your help...I think I forgot to say that earlier, my bad!

[tempredmental]

[Onion? Oh... Okay, he could handle that. He went looking around to find said ingredients.]

I've done beef enough times. Sausage would be a nice change.

[He paused for a moment and then nodded.]

Yeah, sure. I'm glad I got here in time to be able to do something.

I'm Keith.

[milkmycattle]

[Just a little onion to add to the flavor.]

Yeah, sausage totally adds something to plain ol' spaghetti! You'll love it!

[ Crow actually has a nice cured sausage with lots of different spices and herbs in it. It'll add to the smoky flavor of the tomatoes.]

Keith, eh? I'll remember that the next time I'm in a pinch!

[ Sadly, the more someone knows Crow, it's just inevitable to get tied up into stuff.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded at the comment about the sausage, having gathered up what he needed to start cutting up. He was actually pretty good at it. Not a finessed master chef, but definitely someone used to cooking for himself.

The onions he saved for last, though. That way, it was less time exposed to the juices and fumes, and he could wash his hands quickly after he was done with them.]

Heh... being in a pinch is something I've gotten used to.

[Keith was always tied up in stuff, whether his own, someone else's, or just the universe's in general, it seemed. He'd learned to just bear it and move on.]

[milkmycattle]

[ Crow finishes cutting up the tomatoes and peeling the skin. He then places them into a pot, so he can cook it down a bit. Thanks to Keith's fire magic, they are pretty much mush at this point, so it'll cook in half the time. So Crow adds in the ingredients that Keith cut you, adding some seasoning for a bit more flavor to their sauce. He leaves that to simmer once the sauce comes to a boil.

Crow moves on to cutting up the sausage and setting another pot of water to boil for the pasta.]

Oh? Did you get into situations like this back in your world?

[ Crow doesn't know a lot about Keith, but if he finds out about his space adventures, then he'll be eager to learn more.]

[tempredmental]

Uuhhhh... not exactly? Like, we didn't run into any feral tomatoes, but... things were weird sometimes. And we were in... [His demeanor sagged a bit.] We were in a war. So, pinches happened a lot.

[milkmycattle]

...oh?

[ Crow's ears droop a little as the conversation takes a dark turn. And he thought they were going into a more lighthearted territory.]

What was the war about?

[They're on the topic, so they mind as well continue. Plus, his world didn't have much war or violence, so he can't help his own curiosity.]

[tempredmental]

Rebelling against a massive empire of oppressive people who were trying to enslave the entire universe.

[It was probably the simplest way of putting it. There was more... there was oh so much more. But that was where things had started for him, so it was probably the best place to start for him to describe it to others.]

[milkmycattle]

[Yikes. It does sound pretty bad. He grows silent as he tosses the sliced sausage into the skillet.]

So? Were you able to defeat them?

[If they did, it probably wasn't an easy fight and causalities on both sides, but if they didn't win then the threat continues to loom over them.]

[tempredmental]

Mostly. [It seemed like, every time they did, someone else rose up from the ashes to try again.] We're hoping we're up against the last of it now. [The powerful alchemist with her army of near-brainwashed refugees they had to go after now was going to be hard to deal with.] I have no idea what's going to happen, but we have to find a way to finish this. We started it, and there's no going back at this point.

[milkmycattle]

That's right! Finish what you started, you only have a little more to go!

[Crow doesn't know the true situation, but he's rooting for Keith regardless. He'll encourage him like some weird shounen cheerleader on the multiversal sidelines.]

Guess that makes you more anxious to get back home, huh? How long have you been in Avalon?

[tempredmental]

About a year. But, they said that this whole weird time situation makes it so that we're not really missing anything back home. Everyone's kind of... "stuck"... so, when it's over, we'll be going back to when we were before.

If you believe them, that is.

I don't really know what to think. I've had some friends come and go since I got here, and it's been rough. But, each time they've gone back and then returned here, it's like they had never been here before. So, maybe it's true.

[He shrugged. Time was a weird thing even when it was working relatively properly. Keith knew how it could be wonky and not as linear as one might expect.]