deernet | text ; un: dovahkiin

okay i okay

[Frankly, he's miserable. And has no idea what else to say. How to react to this. He had friends. He wasn't on his own again. And now... they're just gone. He's back to square one in a weird world that occasionally tries to kill him.]

[Like being in Skyrim all over again.]

[The only other person he's ever really lost was Varian. The first real friend he'd had. Friend who wasn't a dragon, at least.]

the shop door is open i tried to open up for today

Okay. I'll be there soon, man.

( Peter doesn't feel at all like he's... good at this. At any of this. He can barely handle things on a good day, and loss, grief.... he crumbles in the face of it.

But someone else going through it....? He can't just let Melius deal with it alone. He considers the other guy a friend, and he knows how he has a hard time dealing with things too, and... he shouldn't be alone.

It's nearly an hour later that Peter actually shows up, inbetween getting some stuff up to take with him and making the little journey over. But then he's reaching to let himself into Melius's potions shop, mouth held in a small, tight frown before he calls softly out. )

Hey Melius, it's Peter.

[Honestly, Melius isn't good at this either. Chizuru put it right when she said he would rather bury himself in a hole than have social interaction. But he's figured out a long time ago that Peter is much the same way. Which helps, in a weird sort of way.]

[Still, the shop seems quiet when Peter steps in. Still neatly organized, a stack of little green bottles on the counter - STAMINA REGENERATION. It does smell more strongly of concoctions than usual... and there she is. Melius' dragon omen. Curled on the counter. She lifts her head, eyes narrowing for a moment until Peter comes into focus.]

[And then...]

Bitch!

[... yeah that's. Just her greeting. Sorry buddy.]

( Peter's stepping quietly into the shop, looking around for any sight of his friend, when there comes, from the countertop.....

Bitch!

There she is. The boy's head turns that way, and that frown twitches into a little smile instead as he moves closer. )

Hello to you, too.

( He knows Melius' omen pretty well by now, and it's a relief to see her... and to hear her being her usual self... Peter steps up to the counter, reaching to slide his backpack around in gesture as he addresses the omen. )

I brought you guys some stuff to eat. Is Melius working on more potions? ( He does make note of how pungent the smell is, eyes falling on those bottles. )

[Wow, she sure looks proud of herself there. Perfect, she has this human trained. Accept your new name, Peter. Accept it and fear her.]

[Now fully awake, she scuttles over to the bottles, watching him and his backpack curiously. It's like watching a bat walk on land. If bats were scaly and lizard-y.]

Zorox rok wahlaan. [She grumbles. Clacking her jaws. He's making his creations - in other words.] Vonun nol krosis.

[And then she looks toward the back of the shop. The "employees only" door. He's hiding from sorrow.]

( Peter is now "bitch", and he will not try to be anything different..... He knows his place.......

He's looking down at the Omen, paying very careful attention to what she says, even if he can't understand — giving a nod as though he can. Well said, little dude(ette)! Following her glance to the back, Peter's brows lift and he gestures with his thumb. )

There? ( He pauses, before craning his neck a little that way and then carefully stepping closer. Is it okay if he just goes back there.... He'll glance back at Melius's Omen for a moment as though for permission. )

Is it cool if I go find him?

[She looks up for a moment, tilting her head. As if she's thinking about it. But then clacks her jaws and goes back to arranging bottles on the counter.]

Geh. Bo, Bitch.

["yes, go Bitch" - so sorry Peter. You truly have been named, and Melius would be horribly, horribly apologetic about the whole thing. He probably knows, but also, probably, isn't in the best mind to really ponder it.]

[He is, in fact, in the little back room. Hunched over his alchemy table, and very, very carefully mixing something that looks like sludge. Glowing sludge. He doesn't look up when Peter enters. His attention fixated completely on his work for the time being.]

( There's no mistaking that instruction..... Peter's obeying immediately, giving another quick nod before stepping through the door. Hey Melius, your friend Bitch is here....

He's moving slowly though, not wanting to take the other by surprise. When he sees him hunched over a table like that, Peter's carefully approaching, making sure his footsteps make enough noise to give some kind of warning. (He knows from experience how unpleasant it is to be caught off-guard.... Anxiety Friends have to watch out for one another.)

But it becomes clear that Melius is very invested in what he's doing, so Peter calls out quietly as he draws closer. )

Hey, man. I'm here. ( His eyes dip to what the other's working on, watching the odd glowing goop for a moment. ) What're you making?

[He bobs his head once. It's not a jumpy motion, thankfully - just a quick little acknowledgment of Peter's words. He keeps his eyes on the goo, for the moment. Focused... until it changes color.]

[Then some of the focus bleeds out of him, and he moves the mixture to one side.]

Um. Hi. [Apparently the work is not so vital right now. He can look up and pay attention to Peter. And pick the scales on his neck, anxiously.] It - um. It's... for invisibility.

I don't make it a lot. It's hard. So um. I thought it'd. Be good to do now.

[For focus reasons.]

( Peter watches the goo, brows lifting as it changes colour like that. It's admittedly extremely interesting to watch stuff like this at work — Peter isn't usually around for Luna's potions-making. But his focus remains on Melius, looking back up at him as his friend speaks. )

Oh— the invisibility stuff. I remember you talking about that before. ( Peter had definitely been intrigued by the thought of getting to go invisible again... He'd actually really enjoyed it back when his Darkblood had him unable to be visibly perceived by anyone. It felt safe.... and here is Melius making something for invisibility now, even if it's difficult to do. Could it be he intends to use it? Go invisible for awhile....? Could be, after what's happened. Peter's smile flickers a little, but he doesn't ask about that directly. Instead— )

Do you want some help with it? Or, if you could use a break soon, I brought you some lunch.

Y-yes. It... I'm going to run out of material, sometime... I can only make a little at a time.

[Vampire dust isn't easy to come by in Trench. He's just been lucky to only need pinches of it for the potions. But, also, if Peter asked, Melius would just hand the vials over. No questions asked.]

[His head tilts again, like he's trying to remember what they'd talked about before - and - oh.]

Um. Sure. Yes. It - it needs to rest for a while now... anyway. So- So now is. Is a good time.

Thank you.

( Whatever Melius is up for, or not up for, Peter's ready for it. He's never assisted with potions-making before, but he's certainly down for the task if Melius wants to continue for awhile. But a break could be good for him too, and there's a little flutter of relief when his friend says now would be a good time to let the potion rest. He's worried about the other, and it'd be nice to see how he's doing, maybe sit down and just have a nice relaxing lunch when he's sure Melius is probably stressed to hell and back. )

Yeah, it's no problem! I figured it never hurt to share some leftovers. And Luna's a really good cook.

( He gives a smile, lifting his bag upwards in gesture. )

It's some uh, stew, and some bread to go with it. There's also a couple cupcakes for dessert..... If your Omen wants some too, there's plenty. She was kinda sniffing around it out there.

Stew? [Wow, it's like Peter is offering bars of solid gold. Or rare alchemy ingredients. Because Melius perks right up. The mention of any kind of soup makes his day. That's his specialty when he's not cooking up potions.]

[His tail even seems to wag slightly back and forth.]

I - I think that - that sounds very good. But um. What are... what are cup cakes?

[We're just not going to talk about his Omen who is rude and sassy and deserves no treats.]

( Peter's grin brightens a little at that reaction — he was hoping it might be something Melius could enjoy. )

Oh, they're like.... little cakes? With icing on the top. I have a vanilla one and a chocolate, you totally get first choice.

( Peter shuffles the bag in his arms again, perking up too. ) Is it cool to eat back here? I can set everything out wherever you wanna.

Oh!

[Look at how he perks up even more. His tail even starts waving slightly around. Not quite wagging, he's not a canine. But he's clearly delighted by that idea.]

I um - I do like - baked things. Van-vanilla. I like that kind. [Of course he does.] But um. Um, yes. Yes, it's - safe.

I don't keep volatile things... in the open.

( Considering what Melius is going through right now, dealing with the loss of his friends and household, Peter's heart is giving a happy little flip at the delight in the other. Through it all is that lingering odd ache, knowing about his loss, but maybe in the moment he can help just a little. )

Then the vanilla's yours, dude. Here, I'll set everything out for you.

( He moves to the nearest available clear surface he can see, tugging out a container of hearty stew with vegetables in it, and two little bowls, all very neatly packed by Luna. There's water and a couple pieces of bread, and then, as promised, a container for two cupcakes. They've gotten kind of squashed in the journey, and exchanged some frosting, but otherwise it's a nice little dessert.

Peter gets right to work fixing Melius up a bowl and then hands it to with a little spoon, before preparing a second for himself. )

Hopefully it's still pretty warm — Luna heated it up pretty hot right before I left.

[There's a crate with space available. Thankfully, it's a crate of flasks and not anything dangerous. Melius takes care of his supplies, his parents taught him well! It rattles a bit, but nothing serious.]

[He is... very intently watching the cupcakes. They look like little tarts, and the lizard is a sucker for baked goods. Bread, pastry, all of the above.]

Th... thank you. And - and her too. If um. If it isn't. Warm. I can - maybe help.

[But nothing seems too cold. And, frankly, even if it were, Melius wouldn't say a word about it. He accepts the bowl, and has the grace to wait until Peter has soup too before going to town. Huh - apparently it's been a while since he'd fed himself.]

( Peter's grinning again as his friend hits his soup, and wastes no time following suit, helping himself to his own hearty mouthfuls. It really is good, and still pretty warm, and there's nothing like something like this when you're feeling bummed... it's definitely comfort food.

After a few moments, he gives an almost mischievous smile and reaches for the cupcakes, drawing them closer — offering the vanilla one over to Melius. They've only just started the lunch but who said you couldn't indulge in some sweetness before you get finished?? )

Dessert with the main course is the only way to do it.

[He has to take a moment to finish scarfing the food he was about to eat. It's rude to talk with your mouth full!]

O-Oh... Okay.

[Very carefully, he reaches for the offered pastry. It doesn't look too familiar. Sweets where he was from lacked the cute frosting top. Sometimes there would be icing, cream? That kind of thing. It looks almost too cute to eat it.]

[But you know what? He's going to!! And then his eyes get even bigger, if possible.]

It - it's so sweet! [But from his tone, that's not a bad thing at all. Quite the opposite.]

( Peter's grin widens again at the other's reaction, and he's reaching for the chocolate one to take a bite, too. )

Right?? So sweet, and soooo good.

( He's not even really a Sweets Guy but he can still appreciate it. Especially Luna's baking — he's incredibly weak to it... )

I should've brought more, but I didn't want to give you a sugar headache.

She - she is really good at this.

[A really good baker. He's seriously impressed. And it's hard not to just inhale the whole little cake.]

I um. I don't - think these are. In my world. We - we have sweets. But not like this.

If you ever want to try some other kinds, I bet she could always use more taste-testers. ( Peter grins as he finishes off his own cupcake, and licks some icing off of a finger; Peter, please have some manners... )

You should come over sometimes, have dinner and dessert with us. We could even make it a regular thing.

( Melius isn't alone, even if it might feel like that right now. Peter wants to make sure the other knows that, and extend a hand a bit more to him. It'd be nice to have him over on a regular basis, to stay closer like that. )

Yes! I um. I mean, yes please. That - that would be. Nice. I like baked things.

[It would be rude to sound too eager, right? He shouldn't do that.]

O-oh, uh. I can um. Help. With food. I'm good with soup.

[It's the thing he's best at, actually.]

text ; un: dovahkiin

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