melodiesofeternity | [Closed] From Heart to Stomach

Entry tags:

[Closed] From Heart to Stomach

Who: Papyrus & Madhuri (Open to a very sneaky Frisk)
When: August 16th
Where: Sparks Golsaucia, The Lady of Bliss and Madhuri's apartment
What: It's a date! Gotta catch a show and then cook dinner together.
Warnings/Notes: Papyrus. Nerds. Gratuitous foodiness.

The applause was uproarious. Each actor and actress quickly collected upon the stage to link hands and give their final bow, the orchestra playing the final overture. Weeks of hard work paid off for premiere night, allowing all of Vaikuntha to feast their eyes on a sweeping love story: An Otherworlder falls in love with a Native, but saves the world and is granted the chance to go home. But do they stay and live their life with their love, leaving family, work and friends, or do they depart...?

Madhuri gave her applauding hands a rest and sighed, resting her hat upon the table. As the owner of the establishment, a private box seat was always in the wings for her. Tonight, she took in a date. She turned to him, smiling.

"I'm elated that Rosemerta - the woman playing Beatrice in tonight's production - was able to overcome her fear of the stage. She'll have a wonderful career here in the Lady!"

She crossed her ankles. "What did you think, dear? I realize I never asked if you've seen an opera before."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Noisy, too. Wind magic's never been a subtle type..." But zappy had its benefits. Lightning could quietly power something, but it was such a wild element that required a lot of forward-thinking to contain it safely.

"Magitek seems to be king here, complete with its experts. I've a friend who is a magitek knight who seems the tinkery type. I should ask for his input too. He's got his ship from home and wants to get it in the air again. If he can lift a ship, a tiefling should be no issue."

She folded her arms behind her back.

"Or I could ride on your back."

"NYEH HEH HEH!!! BUT SOMETIMES SOMETHING BIG AND BOISTEROUS IS JUST WHAT YOU NEED!" Said the one who tended to be rather... loud. And eccentric. And also very, very boisterous. Perhaps he was a tad biased in that regard.

Still, he nodded. It's true, Magitek to this world is what... well, normal technology was to his. Even if said technology often involved magic usage anyway. He was about to comment on the lifting, too, until-

Oh.

WELL.

Pardon him if he blushed a little. And tugged at his cape. "OH. WELL. IF YOU WANTED A LIFT, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD GLADLY PROVIDE! ALTHOUGH MY HOVER BOARD WOULD PROBABLY BE FASTER. AND VERY, VERY STYLISH!!!"

"Point taken! Hover boards, add a few portals... really bend the space-time continuum over the knee and snap it like a wafer bar!"

She raised an arm and pointed. "Ah, and that very tall building there is our destination, by the by. I'm on the 13th floor... always been a lucky number for me."

The building itself looked almost like another attraction: Countless lights and glitz decorating the building amid the sea of commerce and entertainment, each giving their own siren song.

Papyrus clapped his hands together. "YES! EXACTLY!!! IF I COULD RECREATE MY POCKET DIMENSION TECHNOLOGY, IT'D BE EVEN BETTER!"

But just as quickly as his face lit up, his face sobered a little bit. Alas, that may be wishful thinking at his current skill level. Regaining his technical prowess was no small feat, after all, and magitek remained an enigma.

But, ooh! That certainly was a stylish building, and so despite his height, he craned his neck a bit. "WOWIE. WELL! IF YOU THINK THE NUMBER THIRTEEN IS LUCKY, THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL SECOND THAT NOTION! ...BECAUSE THE IDEA OF IT BEING UNLUCKY WAS ALWAYS CONFUSING, ANYWAY. THAT POOR NUMBER!"

"Well, if you're looking for portals to begin with, I'm your girl... er, once I get my powers back, anyway." She stopped at the last intersection and took care of the signal. She'll press that crosswalk button and wait for the chance to cross. Folks are rather busy tonight, it seemed.

"I believe thirteen was considered unlucky because of ancient scriptures of one particular church of paladins. There was a thirteenth man among a group of those most trusted by these paladins' holy figure who turned out to be an enemy of circumstance."

She shrugged. "Three, on the other hand, is far luckier than seven if you can believe that. I'm glad nobody's made superstition of three. It's chock full of magic."

When the signal changed, she offered her hand.

"OOH! MAGIC PORTALS, THEN? THAT MUST BE VERY CONVENIENT. ...UNLIKE THAT PALADIN BETRAYAL. BUT HRMMM... THREE BEING LUCKY ISN'T TOO SURPRISING EITHER! THREES ARE A RECURRING SYMBOL IN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING."

Rule of threes, beginning, middle, and end, some story about three pigs. Yes ineedy, it's a no-brainer to him, even if it was't the first thing that came to mind when he thought of luck.

He could have gone on, but... oh. A hand. How forward! Papyrus gasped.

"OH NO! YOUR DATING POWER!!! IT'S EXTRA POWERFUL!"

But he took it anyway, albeit sheepishly.

Powerful though it may be, she wasn't about to cross the busy street without him. When she suspected people may stare, when you lived in a world with so many different races and all the new ones that plopped in from the Dream Width, any eyes were far more interested in hitting the next casino instead of a horned woman skipping along with a six foot skeleton.

"If you think my dating power is rather extra, I'm eager to see what you think of my cooking power. I've a breadth of experience feeding a number of people... never a skeleton, however."

She blinked, realizing: "...Might I ask where food goes for skeletons?"

GASP!!! Cooking power, too? Well, that made sense. They did talk about cooking before, didn't they? But hmm, what do skeletons eat? That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? One wouldn't think a skeleton could eat, but. Well. Papyrus isn't your average bone man.

"WHY, I'LL EAT JUST ABOUT ANYTHING! ...EXCEPT EXCESS GREASE. MY BROTHER... FOR WHATEVER REASON, HE ONLY EVER EATS THE MOST DRIPPING, DISGUSTING BURGERS AND FRIES." He paused. "THOUGH IF YOU LIKE THAT SORT OF FOOD, THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE AND I'LL ACCEPT WHATEVER YOU PREPARE MOST GENEROUSLY!!!"

"I'll enjoy a burger now and again, but I'm more a... oh, what's the way to put it..." She tapped a horn. She didn't precisely have a favorite food, now that she thought about it.

"I like something I can gather and prepare for myself in a woods. So a roastable meat or vegetables that can be eaten quickly, before you have to run to another world." Madhuri paused, then shrugged.

"I never stayed in a world for very long. I think my being trapped in Vaikuntha is the longest I've been, outside of Greyhawk where I was born."

He was going to comment on the ingredients, but.

Other worlds. Plural. Said so casually, even! Those googly eyes popped back in full force, and for a second or two, Papyrus just sorta gawked as they walked.

And then, just like that...

"OH MY GOD?!?!?!"

'Twas a bit shriekier than usual. And his voice already was fairly shrill. But. But!! "SO YOU TRAVEL TO OTHER WORLDS REGULARLY? THAT'S INCREDIBLE! UNBELIEVABLE! WELL, MAYBE NOT TOO UNBELIEVABLE. I'VE MADE AT LEAST ONE CONTACT IN A PARALLEL REALITY. BUT. BUT!!! THAT'S AMAZING! YOU'RE VERY LUCKY!"

As if she couldn't get any cooler. A real, genuine world traveler. And they were having a date! Wowie!

She blinked at him, surprised as she hadn't expected him to reach those impressive octaves. She quickly relaxed, however, tucking a bit of her hair behind a horn and shrugging.

"Lucky? Well, I suppose in a sense of wanderlust it's rather lucky. I've seen all sorts of things while jumping from place to place within the Prime Material Plane. Flying cars, giant lizards, speaking to one another through thought itself..."

Do pardon if his grip tightened just a teensy bit. It's really just a shock thing. This was all so much to process! He beamed like a kid that just got everything on their Christmas list- well, that's what it looked like, anyway. His free hand kinda covered his mouth partway as he tried to contain his excitement.

"F-FLYING CARS! REAL, GENUINE FLYING CARS!!! AMAZING. AND TELEPATHY, TOO? WOWIE. YOU'LL HAVE TO TELL ME MORE! WELL. IF YOU WANT TO. I WON'T PUSH YOU! THAT WOULD BE VERY RUDE AND VERY UN-DATE-LIKE."

He thought. Admittedly, he didn't have a lot of practical dating experience. But this was supposed to be a good date! Which meant not being too overly naggy. As much as this intrigued him, it was all her call. The fact that he was even on a date had just barely sank in.

"Oh, that's alright. Let's see..."

Pardon her while they pop into the apartment complex proper, and she'll take care of hitting the elevator button. Hers was floor thirteen, and just a pinch down the hall.

"The flying cars led to some interesting air traffic, you see. They thought flying would solve the problem, but instead the sky was just too dangerous to traverse without some clever forethought. But the models were so beautiful...! I couldn't drive one, however. I needed to take a test, I suppose to make sure I wouldn't be a maniac. The dinosaurs, as the lizards were called, loved to traverse dense jungles, guarding temples worshiping a great serpent..."

She beamed now, grinning like a devil.

"Dendar, the Night Serpent. She feeds on nightmares. She's the reason why, Her worshipers say, we can't remember our worst dreams. Isn't that helpful?"

As they continued, he absorbed every word. Every juicy detail. It was difficult to hold still. This all sounded so thrilling! So captivating!

Although, yes, flying cars did raise safety concerns, perhaps. "I SUPPOSE IT'D BE DIFFICULT FOR BIRDS, TOO. BUT. COOL, FLYING CARS! SURELY, WITH SOME REFINEMENTS, THE SKIES COULD BE A DAZZLING DISPLAY OF VARIED VESSELS!" Ah, something to look into whenever he returned home.

"THAT SERPENT DOES SOUND RATHER CHARITABLE, TOO! DEVOURING NIGHTMARES... AH, IF ONLY WE HAD SOMEONE LIKE THAT IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT'D CERTAINLY HELP M-" He stopped himself, tittering. Time to shift the focus! "MY FRIEND UNDYNE. WHO HAS, ERM... LET'S JUST SAY THINGS HAPPENED AND THEY WEREN'T PARTICULARLY PLEASANT."

"She aligns to evil, interestingly enough. But her purpose is no less important. Should she cease to exist by any means, mortals may never find restful sleep." But that was interesting too, wasn't it? Papyrus, you extremely subtle devil. But did she mean interesting? She meant 'alarming'.

"Well... I've some terrible things happen, myself. It's no wonder your friend would have them. It's normal, you see."

She paused. "Do they happen often?"

Evil? How strange. Such power seemed so benevolent. But then again, Papyrus wasn't the sort to believe in true evil. At least, truly irredeemable evil. He'd intended to comment on it, but. Oh.

Drat. He winced, rubbing his neck. "WELL, ERM. UNDYNE ALWAYS INSISTS THAT EVERYTHING'S FINE. SHE DOESN'T REALLY LIKE TO SHOW 'WEAKNESS'. EVEN IF IT'S NOT WEAK TO ASK FOR HELP FROM TIME TO TIME!"

Though he slumped, and though he had more thoughts on the matter, he soon added- "BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO DWELL ON THE DEPRESSING! THIS IS, AFTER ALL, A DATE. AND DATES ARE MEANT TO BE FULL OF FUN! FESTIVITY! REJOICING AND... R-RO... WELL. YOU KNOW. HAPPY THINGS!"

The smile was slow to return. Perhaps it wasn't the best time to ponder those sorts of things. Another time, definitely.

"Of course, Papyrus. Tell me about good dreams you've had, then! We've something of an elevator ride to attend to."

Heck, he'll even have some tacky elevator muzak to provide a theme to his retellings!

Ooh! That was an interesting topic. Much more uplifting, for sure. Though his smile grew a bit crooked. "WELL, WHEN YOU DON'T SLEEP MUCH, YOU DON'T TYPICALLY DREAM MUCH. BUT!!!" He raised a finger, trying to steer focus away from his restlessness.

"I DO OFTEN GET LOST IN THOUGHT. AND SOMETIMES EVEN DAYDREAMS. SUCH GLORIOUS IMAGERY AS MYSELF, REVVING DOWN THE ROAD, WIND IN MY HEAR, CROWDS SWOONING AS I FLEX MY MIGHTY MUSCLES!!! THE SUN... DOING ITS SUN THING."

Alas, no muscles or hair for this skeleton. But it was the thought that counted!

She thought nothing of it. She needed sleep because her mind needed rest and it helped the body heal, but this was a magic skeleton with a magic mind! Who needed 8 hours of sleep when it could simply be used to experiment without wearing down?

"Well, you'll need a wig of some kind if you wish to have that feeling of the whoosh between the follicles. Or perhaps it feels much nicer rushing over the dome of the skull. But when you say revving down the road... some sort of two-wheeled vehicle, a carriage, maybe?"

Precisely! Granted, rest had its benefits. Greater health and durability. But Papyrus was stubborn. Driven. And... perhaps slightly traumatized. Luckily, the subject of nightmares had dropped in favor of much more engaging discussion. Any signs of discomfort had since slipped away in favor of a more relaxed, confident posture as he spoke.

"WELL, MONIKA DID GET ME THAT WIG. AND SOMETIMES I DO TRY IT ON... FOR STRICTLY SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES. BUT IT GETS KIND OF ITCHY? AND SOMETIMES I JUST WANT TO EXPRESS MY RAW, SKELETAL BRILLIANCE!" Pausing, he soon added, "AS FOR THE VEHICLE, I'M THINKING OF A CAR. STYLISH, RED, PERHAPS WITH AN ENGINE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO PIERCE THE BOUNDARIES OF TIME AND SPACE!!!

...I ACTUALLY TRIED THAT ONCE, BUT IT, ERM. WENT A BIT MORE EXPLOSIVELY THAN I HAD HOPED."

She laughed. Okay, she had to imagine googly eyes and an OH MY GOD as the poor car expired in a flash of fire.

"I've been there as well, don't be embarrassed! I once tried to make a magic-powered coffee kettle. As a tiefling, I should be glad that fire-based magic doesn't work as well as it would for other creatures, or I would've been toast!"

She fiddled with her keys and sought to getting that door open. Home, sweet home!

"Perhaps your world isn't quite ready for time and space-jumping cars, or Spelljammer technology. But that's where minds like yours come in, with a little time and patience. Oh... Make yourself at home, dear."

Her apartment was surprisingly decorated toward 'cozy' rather than the glitz and glamour she may portray. The couches were big and soft, the lights were warm and very unlike the blinding lights of the city far below, and the paintings strewn over the walls were of various landscapes. Whether they were Vaikunthan or elsewhere wasn't entirely known.

Madhuri neatly placed her hat atop the coat rack and gave her hair a little flip.

"OH DEAR." He winced at the mental image, though laughter soon followed. "BUT I'VE CERTAINLY EXPERIENCED MY SHARE OF EXPLOSIVE INCIDENTS. WHEN YOUR MENTOR IS THE TYPE TO JUST RUN IN BULLHEADEDLY AND TRY TO MAKE THINGS AS OVER THE TOP AS POSSIBLE, YOU... GET A LOT OF DUDS. VERY BOOMY DUDS."

But that was part of the charm, really. Though while a nostalgic smile crept across his face, it fizzled out a few seconds later. Fortunately, they arrived just in the nick of time to wipe his thoughts of the rather... complex situation with Undyne.

So he stepped inside, glancing about as he entered. It was so... calm. Comforting. Very much unlike their surroundings, but certainly not unwelcome. In a way, it reminded him of his own home's furnishings.

"AH! BUT THIS IS A VERY NICE PLACE YOU HAVE. SIMPLE, BUT IN A GOOD WAY!"

She nodded. "Thank you... I've never been very good with decorating, considering I never really had a home to do it in. I'm more of a traveling caravan sort of girl. I always have to move, you know? Stories to learn, songs to sing." Death to avoid.

"Either way! If you're hungry, we can get started on the dish, if you'd like to join me in the kitchen and partner up on a proper spaghetti carbonara."

"AH, BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A THRILLING LIFE TO LEAD! THE JOYS OF ADVENTURE. NEW SIGHTS. NEW SOUNDS! FREEDOM TO COME AND GO AS YOU PLEASE!!!" He clutched his chest at the thought. Ah, it's just like one of those human adventure documentaries! Like the one with the cool hat and the swagger. What was his name again? Delaware Dunes?

Nonetheless, dates were better with food. Probably. It was his first date. Still, he beamed at the proposition. "CARBONARA, THOUGH? THAT SOUNDS LIKE QUITE THE FEAST. AND A GOOD BREAK FROM MY TYPICAL MARINARA. VERY WELL, THEN! LET'S COMMENCE WITH THE CULINARY CREATION!"

"The freedom certainly sounds nice, doesn't it? Seems I can't quite open any doors here, though. Maybe in the future! I'd love to show you a Spelljammer...!"

Don't mind her, then. With the cue, she went to gather everything needed and place it on the counter.

"See, space itself is made of a material we can't traverse through. It's too cold, no air, nothing to speak of aside of those little burning points we call stars. But many universes are encased in these vast crystal spheres, and are capable of housing life. Spelljammers are ships designed to pass through the space 'material', and safely enter the spheres to explore what universes are locked away inside."

She pat her chest. "Or, those with the magic can create doors to move between worlds when conditions are right, say with phases of the moon or tapping into magic ley lines in some cases."

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