Text; un: rabbit_ebrooks

[reaperrabbit]

[Normally, Brook would be perfectly happy to make a video post. It'd just be like his weekly recorded updates for his blog back home. Given the state he's in, though, he doesn't want to risk putting his face on camera. What if he looks as bad as he feels?

Why does he feel bad in the first place? Nothing makes any sense.]

ok, i know that for whatever reason, everyone's powers and shit have been weakened since they got here.
but has anybody else been feeling... weird?
like wobbly or your head hurting. or your legs not working right.
or like you have to lie down for a while until your eyes go back to normal.
idk, is this smth else that just happens here like weeds trying to eat you?

((OOC: Brook just hasn't realized that nerfing means he has to eat and sleep now, so he's been wandering around on little more than a Starbucks cake pop and no rest for days. That said, once people help him figure that out, he'll likely react to the thought of eating with disgust. This might hit a little close to disordered eating patterns, so please keep yourself safe if that's a trigger! Brook also has a permissions page with a long list of content warnings and an opt-out form, because I'm the Grim Reaper is a minefield of common triggers, and I don't want to suddenly spring anything unwanted on anyone.))

Comments

[reaperrabbit]

huh. you'd think with magic, you could just make yourself better without that stuff. how inconvenient that you can't.

[abit_ofboth]

I never found the need. I heal quite easily on my own without the need of anything extra. It was rare that I was injured enough to need anything like that.

I admit I don’t know how that works now that I have been… dimmed by this place, but so far I have not yet experienced this inconvenience.

[scowlish]

[Onni notices the fact that Brook almost says something and pauses what he's doing, looking over at him and raising a brow.]

Do you not eat meat?

[It's said in the tone of someone who thinks that's kind of weird, but considering there's nothing off about Brook's demeanor when he gets the rolls, Onni's first thought is that he's vegetarian. That would be unfortunate, because he'd have to rethink the whole stew thing, but he's willing enough to do that, to get some food into the younger (looking) man.

Onni watches him try the bun, picking at it even though he must be starving and uncomfortable, trying it like he's never eaten bread before. It's good, Onni decides, because eating slow to start is a good idea anyway.]

Ah, good. We found something you like, then.

[He says it almost without thinking, and not realizing how paternal it sounds, because Brook reminds him so much of Lalli, eating only what he's interested in eating and cautious about new foods.]

[reaperrabbit]

[Sigh.]

I keep saying, I don't eat anything. There's nothing in particular I don't eat, because I don't really eat at all. Just sweet things, when I feel like it.

[He gives the stew another dubious glance before continuing to pick at the bread.]

It's just that... I was... [He takes another breath and lets it out, shorter than those sighs of his.] I had a bad encounter with. Soup. A little while ago.

[I'm sorry, I can't make this stuff up. This is canon. Brook looks like he knows how ridiculous the confession is, but there's nothing he can do about it. It's the truth, in a manner of speaking.]

But whatever, it doesn't matter. If that's what I have to eat... then okay. [Grimly:] It's not like it'll kill me.

[The weirdly protective comment gets a look from him, but no comment. At this point, Brook doesn't feel like annoying or putting this guy--Onni--off. If he's so determined to help, even if Brook can't understand it, then what can he be, but... confusedly, warily grateful?]

[reaperrabbit]

wait, wdym? like... more than human levels of "easily?"

[scowlish]

With...soup?

[Sounds fake. What kind of bad experience could you have with soup other than maybe food poisoning? For a few moments, he's quiet, thinking about that, his mind coming up with various examples of how one could have a bad experience with soup (eyeballs in the soup? soup thrown at you? drowning in soup?) but none of it makes sense.]

Well, this isn't soup, it's stew, it's much thicker.

[That should solve the problem, right?]

I'll make you something different next time.

[The stew is bubbling away nicely now, and he stirs it a few times, letting the water boil away to make it thicker, then adding a little flour to help it along from a small packet he got at a 'bulk store' a while back.]

For now, I had the ingredients for this, because I like it.

[reaperrabbit]

[Oh, good. He doesn't ask, so Brook doesn't get into it. It's not something he wants to talk about when he's supposed to be eating, and he doubts Onni wants to hear the grisly details, either.

For the record, it's much worse than he's thinking.]

...Sorry for taking your food.

[He doesn't know what to do with the insinuation of "next time," or the attempt to--what. Soothe him? The texture isn't the problem, not exactly, but Brook is not thinking about what the problem is anymore, thank you very much.]

I'll repay you for it. Any kind of work you need done, if I can do it, I will.

[scowlish]

[That gets Onni's attention, and he blinks, looking up at Brook with an obviously puzzled expression.]

Why would you pay me back? Or apologize? The food here is free for the taking, all I'm doing is cooking it for you.

[He shakes his head, turning his attention back to the stew and adding some salt and pepper to it, before letting it simmer. It gives time for Brook to eat more of his bun, as well, he thinks, because the boy is still picking at it.]

You don't need to do any of that.

[savewell]

[And that gets her to still a moment, the silence hanging a little terse in the air as the feed yet continues, and she seems to be warring with herself as to how to respond.]

...Honestly, you needn't be so rude about it, either.

[Best, perhaps, to just move right along.]

If there is a poisonous tea out there alongside the fainting one, someone really ought to see to it at once, before someone gets hurt. Oh, not you, of course, I'm sure you're much too busy with something else that's terribly important. But someone ought to, anyway.

[reaperrabbit]

[He's much too busy being rude to princesses on the internet, yes, and also busy looking like he did drink the fainting tea and has laid himself out on a bench accordingly. I.e., he's currently talking to her on his back, phone held above his face in the classic "you are going to drop your phone on your face in five seconds" pose. Very busy. She gets him.]

..."See to it"...? What's that mean.

[reaperrabbit]

[Puzzled expression, meet bewildered scowl.]

...But you had it. It's yours. You picked the ingredients for the food you like, and now you're giving it to me. And you helped me before, too.

[Even though Onni didn't need to do that. To Brook, the imbalance is clear. He continues frowning at Onni over his knees.]

I can't just... do nothing in return. It wouldn't be even.

[savewell]

Well, taking it off the table, clearly!

[O B V I O U S L Y]

You don't want people to drink it, do you?

[abit_ofboth]

Oh yes, I heal much faster than a human. Though admittedly I am not well versed on how long humans take to heal in general.

[scowlish]

[Onni supposes he can see an imbalance, but the problem they seem to be having is that he doesn't care and Brook does? Onni can't quite sort out why Brook seems to care so much. It's the simplest thing, picking out things from a store that has everything he could imagine, and then putting those ingredients together to simmer for a bit. Maybe he could see a problem if he'd hunted the cow himself and scavenged the vegetables and bought the flour and bullion. But even then, he probably wouldn't care.]

And?

[A pause, and he stirs the stew in the pot.]

This is just what people should do for other people! I'm not about to let someone starve. But if you want to do something for me, rest and start feeling better and eat that bun.

[reaperrabbit]

Not particularly. Guess it's funny no one's thought of that before.

[No, no, just because it didn't occur to Brook doesn't mean that lack of initiative is universal.]

[savewell]

It's a simple enough solution. I don't see why someone wouldn't.

[Hmph.]

[reaperrabbit]

I guess if I end up over there at some point, I could try? I haven't actually seen it in person. It's in the park, right?

[And then I figured out how Brook ends up Drinking the Tea.]

[savewell]

In the garden, yes. A little distance from that awful greenhouse with the terrible rude plants.

[Guess who also yelled at the terrible rude plants. This girl.]

[reaperrabbit]

[At that, the frown falls away, leaving Brook staring. It's as though no one has ever said that to him in his entire life, has ever expressed the idea that people should help other people. Onni says it like it's a given. That it could be, to anyone over the age of five, seems like a magical concept.

He blinks, sits up a little more, and looks away. For some reason, he's kind of embarrassed.]

...Fine. I'll work on it.

[To show willing, he even takes a bite directly from the roll itself. Homf. A bun(ny) eating a bun. Is that cannibalism?]

But you should have some, too. Of the stew, I mean. Since I won't eat all that.

[reaperrabbit]

Oh, yeah. The bitey ones? Those were annoying.

[scowlish]

[Onni can see Brook staring at him, like he has two heads or something. Onni looks himself over, making sure he hasn't spilled something on himself or something to elicit that kind of reaction, but everything is in order and he assumes it must be because of something he said. He's not sure which part, but something he said.

Instead of trying to suss out what it was, he shifts a little on his feet, and looks back at the stew.]

Good.

[He can see, out of the corner of his eye, Brook taking a bite of the bun and chewing. Swallowing. It's good to see it, because somehow Onni can tell he's developed a vested interest in making sure this boy lives. Maybe it's because he's so stupid about normal things that keep humans alive, maybe it's because he reminds him a little of Lalli, but the fact is, he's interested now.]

Of course I will. We can share a meal together.

[savewell]

Not just the biting ones, but the gossiping ones as well. Honestly, some of them were saying the most horrible things, and about people who didn't deserve it a bit!

[Says Rosella, a peak judge of character...]

[reaperrabbit]

Gossiping, huh. So like, judging their sense of fashion?

[He's not going along with this topic of conversation just because he's half-delirious with hunger. He's Gathering Information^TM. His detective friend would be totes proud.]

[savewell]

Oh, worse than that. Spreading rumors, as well. And just — just saying awful things for no good reason.

[Or maybe some good reason.]

[reaperrabbit]

[The unexpected hominess of the invitation hits him like a haymaker. Not just in recent memory, not just after becoming a Reaper, but never, ever can he remember being asked to share a meal with anyone.

Way, way back in time, he must have dined with his father or even his sister, his stubby child legs dangling from furniture built for bigger people. But even that was scheduled for him. It was part of his education, one more obligation to fulfill without thinking about it. "Quality time."

He doesn't think he'd know his father's face if shown a portrait. His recollection of the man is that threadbare. And of course, nobody wants to break bread with a Reaper.

Brook tucks his elbows in close to his body, behind his legs, managing to make himself even smaller as he chews his roll. He's still looking away when he speaks.]

Doesn't it bother you? I'm obviously not human.

[He may be stupid, but not stupid enough not to know he's let too many hints slip with Onni.]