Wanderer (
featheradrift) wrote in
citylogs2023-11-14 06:14 pm
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WHO: Wanderer (
featheradrift) & Various
WHAT: November Catch-all for random threads!
WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere???
WHEN: All of November
WARNINGS: Marked in threads
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
WHAT: November Catch-all for random threads!
WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere???
WHEN: All of November
WARNINGS: Marked in threads
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He shakes it off—there's a dinner he has to handle, first. The Tajine is set upon the table and its lid opened to reveal the treasure within. ]
You're just helping me deal with the food. No sense in wasting it.
[ There's a few more things in the kitchen, but those can be brought out later. The dishes have been set, and there's more than enough food for the four of them. ]
Go ahead and dig in.
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kaveh smiles. ]
Oh, I'm certainly not eating alone, though. [ kaveh pulls up a seat. and then, because he's kaveh, he pulls up a seat next to him. pats it with the glint of something expectant: ] You'll be joining, yes?
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I had some of it earlier.
[ A truth, if one counts all the taste testing he did while cooking. ]
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That isn't the same as sitting down and having a meal. Besides, you were eating alone, then.
Eat with me.
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I don't need the food.
[ How Kaveh decides to take that statement, he'll let the man decide. ]
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You don't? Why? Is it that you don't need sustenance, or do you need another kind of sustenance?
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[ It's a genuine question, one without sarcasm or bite.
Kaveh had once seen his truths bared to the world under the piercing red of the art installation. He'd seen lines long faded, that marked what he was. There's no way the architect isn't curious, and the drifter wants to see where his line of thought has taken him. ]
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I think you can eat. You just mentioned that you had some of the food yourself, and just from smell alone, I can tell you that you've used the right composition of spices and ingredients, which means your sense of taste must be at least somewhat intact. Which leads me to think that you are capable of eating. But capability and need are not always paired.
If it's another type of sustenance you need, you may have brought it to this table. But then, why would you know how to cook as well as you do? Perhaps there was someone else you had to cook for, for long periods of time. That avenue holds no clues. You could have imbibed what you needed, like blood or sunlight, and then started cooking for everyone else.
[ kaveh considers this. ] Either way, however, I assert that you are not human. That is the baseline. As to what you are... Hm.
[ kaveh looks. then, he motions for the young man to stand up. ] This is going to sound a bit odd, but. Can I pick you up?
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Amusement dancing in his eyes, he complies, standing and raising his arms slightly. ]
Go ahead.
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hm. kaveh sets him down again, gently as gently does it. absently, his hand goes to his chin in thought. ]
Fascinating. You're the right weight for your height and your perceived age. Either you are inhuman in a way that adheres to the general body mass index of regular humans, or you are a mechanical creature whose parts have been carefully balanced to be the weight of your appearance. Which says a lot about the skill of your creator. I couldn't design that level of accuracy with the current technology on hand.
[ kaveh looks. and then, because he's kaveh, he holds up his hands. ]
That is as far as I can get, I'm afraid. I don't have enough information to go further with this train of thought. Would you like to tell me, or would you like to wait until I have more information to glean and basis for an estimate?
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I suppose you'll just have to keep guessing for a while then.
[ Though, he hadn't mentioned what he saw in the red room during any of his theorizing. ]
But I think you know which of the two I am.
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I don't. [ kaveh says, resounding and clear, ] Because the only information I want to work with is the information you've provided, not the secrets of the heart that this city pries from us unwillingly, like a claw reaching in for the deepest oyster. I do not give this city permission to do so. So unless it's something you're alright with me knowing, I'd rather not use it at all.
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He isn't worthy of it. ]
You can't pretend not to know something that you do. Just use it. You already know, anyway.
[ And knowing was what mattered here, since it wasn't information Kaveh could use besides this little game of guessing what he was. ]
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Alright. [ kaveh's gaze lingers on the young man. then: ] I once roomed with a Haravatat who went on a six month exchange to Inazuma to study ancient Inazuma typology. He brought back with him a pair of Inazuman dolls, amongst other things. Your joints remind me of Inazuman puppetry. You are a mechanical creature; you were likely created to mimic humans down to the last elemental particle, weight included, but that would explain why you don't need food. You sustain yourself on something else entirely. I'd hazard elemental energy, or you may be a rare example of a near-perpetual machine. Either way, food doesn't help sustain you.
Am I close?
1/2
It's a good guess. Well thought out, using every bit of information Kaveh has at hand. It's as close as any mortal will ever get to learning what he is—because the rest of what he is lay in the realm of the divine.
He smiles at Kaveh, heavy with the weight of over four hundred years. ]
There's only one thing you're wrong about: I wasn't created to mimic a human.
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That's enough for now, don't you think? The food's going to get cold.
[ To go any further would be to offer his entire life to Kaveh. And that is something the architect should not be made to bear. ]
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kaveh breathes in. he offers a wan smile. he sits once more, and then, because he's kaveh, once again gestures for the young man to sit with him. ]
It is, isn't it? You'll still eat with me though, right? Food tastes better with company, and food tastes better when shared. [ kaveh's smile softens around its edges, ] Let me have a selfish moment and enjoy the flavours you've prepared in the best light possible.
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Yet Kaveh still extends his hand in friendship. Perhaps it is simply pity for what he is and what he will never be. Perhaps he sees the drifter and finds an existence so terribly alone he cannot bear to leave it be. ]
You just don't know when to give up, do you?
[ And yet he acquiesces, reaching out to plate food for himself. He hadn't wanted to eat the food here. Who knew what the kidnappers put in it. And who knew how long the supply would last? It was an easy decision not to partake of it.
Kaveh is right. Food tastes much better when enjoyed in the presence of good company. ]
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he shakes his head. ] But this is not something that I am willing to give up on. After all, the food is good, and the company is promising.
[ kaveh takes a bite of the fatteh. he beams. ] Ah, this takes me back. It's delicious. You soaked the chickpeas for just the right amount of time. Even Alhaitham has trouble with it, though that's because he's as impatient as they come.
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[ The man is determined in a way he rarely sees from humans, but perhaps that was why he had a Vision. He doesn't think the architect will ever give up if he thinks he's got a shot. Maybe even if he thinks he doesn't have one.
In a bygone day, he would have laughed at him, calling him an undignified, desperate fool. These days, he thinks it might be a trait worthy of admiration after all.
And it's certainly not worth the drifter being stubborn over. He has no desire to upset the few people he has some modicum of respect for. ]
You think me promising company? How flattering. I think most find me difficult to get along with.
[ Somehow, it doesn't surprise him to learn that Alhaitham isn't the greatest cook. The man seems like the type that'd leave it in someone else's hands or make the most basic dish that would fulfill his nutritional needs. In other words, someone who valued efficiency over taste. ]
You make it sound like it's difficult.
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so of course, kaveh laughs. ]
You are as difficult to get along with as chickpeas is to soak, I suppose. Each person has their own preferences, strengths and weaknesses. And really, some people hardly try. Alhaitham is one of them.
Tell me, did you find Alhaitham difficult to get along with when you spoke with him?
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If I said he's like a pepper, what would you make of it?
[ Because when does he answer any question posed to him in a straightforward manner? Maybe this is a habit he's picked up from Nahida, now that he thinks about it. Perhaps he should be embarrassed how easily she's rubbed off on him. ]
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a pepper, however. kaveh considers this moment. of course, he begins to laugh. ]
Oh, I rather like that analogy. He's a pepper alright - perfectly benign so long as you don't poke at him too hard, an explosive temper when put anywhere near a heat source or oil, the overwhelming taste in any dish you put him in, and near-impossible to get rid of once he's decided he wants to be on your hands. I'd choose a pepper that's of a greener shade, however. You never know that's the one that will strip your tastebuds from your tongue until you bit into it, and realise that it has bitten you back in the throat.
How about it? Did you find yourself bitten?
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It's trust, he thinks, that allows Kaveh's tongue to be so loose. He trusts the Scribe will not take offense to his words. ]
I merely think that he's straightforward and easy to understand. You'll always know what you get from a pepper, after all. Spice. All you have to do is create a dish that works with it, and you'll have a good result.
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Yes. [ kaveh says, and brightly too. ] You know, you really are the first person that I've met who's understood him. I'm glad that the time you spent with him up until now has giving you an accurate impression of who he is. At the core of his character, Alhaitham is simple. You let him go off and explore his own interests, give him enough space to be himself, and he will inevitably think up something brilliant and unique. You can attempt to bully him into eating his metaphorical vegetables once in a while, but let it go if it doesn't work the first time around, and when he thinks he needs to, he'll loop back in time. His work is also impeccable, but only because if he doesn't do it right the first time around, someone's bound to complain and he'll waste more time having to correct it.
[ then, kaveh gives this young man a strange look. ] Now, exactly what sort of trouble have the two of you been through together for you to have such an accurate impression of Alhaitham? Were you a part of the government coup as well? He's never mentioned you, but Alhaitham never mentions anything unless you know what to ask - and I didn't know to ask about you.
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