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Tweak says, "I got you this gazelle carcass"

Gael Cardenas (shorething) wrote in heureuxlake,
@ 2024-11-06 16:06:00

Entry tags:

Δ complete, Δ threads, → bea liatris, → cianán, → heidi robinson, → lauren young, ∞ 2000: 11, ◦ community center

RP: Marriage Equality Celebration
Who: Open to all.
What: 'Wedding breakfast' to celebrate marriage equality!
When: Wednesday 6th November 2000, after work.
Where: Heureux Lake Community Center
Warnings: Please tag your headers.
Completion Status: Complete.

- Guests are encouraged to move to a new table each time they return to the buffet.
- Host of breakfast / brunch foods on offer. (All provided by community members.)
- Juice bar!
- Rainbow cupcakes tiered to resemble a wedding cake: each colour has been baked / decorated by a different person. (Please imagine the image reflects this.)
- Playlist is upbeat / celebratory / family friendly with a slant towards wedding, marriage and love themes.
- Representative of Tarrytown LGBT will raise a toast at the climax of the evening.

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-05 04:14 pm UTC (link)

She'd have to tell Rashmi to add banshees to the list of immortal beings she was fairly sure she was keeping. "I'll have to let you know if I come up with anything good," she said. All the ones she was coming up with off the top of her head were pure filth and she had more sense than to drop those on someone she barely knew (unless she was actively flirting with them). "Okay I've done the plunge thing once and it was kind of fun, but kind of alarming," she said. "I'm still not convinced on yoga though. Maybe eventually."

Jigging her head from side to side she tried to indicate she was somewhat in agreement with his general point, but acknowledged that he'd seen her point too. "Yeah, okay, I'm not going to go professional, but I can have fun with it." There had been a point when her grandparents tried to encourage her to learn an instrument and she could still pick out a few of the early piano basics when presented with something that had a keyboard, but she, unsurprisingly, hadn't managed to stay still for long enough to make it effective. "I mean it's New York, there are hundreds of languages and cultures represented," she said. She didn't know much of what he was into, but you could find most things in New York in her experience, or someone who knew how to point you to the nearest place you could do it.

"True," she agreed, "But in the case of plumbing that tends to mean lead, so maybe it might be a good idea to replace as much as possible!" Sure it had been a popular metal for pipes for a long time, but now everyone knew how bad it was.

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Cianán and Heidi

keenspirit
2024-12-06 08:25 am UTC (link)

"Please do," Cianán agreed. "It's rare a week goes by that I'm not at Sunny's; I'm not hard to find." Of course, there were times after he'd been called to witness a death that he didn't feel up to socialising, but those were times he wouldn't be terribly receptive to finding a pun amusing, either. His lips twitched with amusement as he asked, "Alarming? In the sense of being a shock to the system?" It was hard to imagine Heidi being frightened of anything, let alone some cold water.

Thinking about professional versus amateur, Cianán had to laugh. "They say making something a profession is that fastest way to make it not fun anymore. I don't personally find that true of music, exactly, but I must confess that I've gone from professional musician to mental health counsellor, so..." At no point had his career in music made it less fun, but he had jumped at the chance to do something else after 240 years. "Exactly," he agreed. "I've tried so many new things since moving here this time." Belfast had become more multicultural than when he'd first lived there, but it couldn't compare to the scale of New York City.

"An excellent point," he agreed, shaking his head and smiling. "Have you done much of that? Replacing an old system?" He could see how it might be very satisfying, preserving a historical structure while also updating it to modern standards.

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-07 11:23 am UTC (link)

"Ah. Excellent. I knew I'd seen you around somewhere," she said. "I usually make it over at least a couple of times a month. Depends what I'm up to," she said. Sometimes she did an outing with her sisters, sometimes there was some other reason to head along. Sometimes she just wanted to go and sing her feelings. "Yeah exactly that," she confirmed. "It can take your breath away if you're not careful," she said. "And birds aren't the biggest fans of getting too wet," she added with a little waggle of her eyebrows. "It's fine as a human, but being too cold and wet sometimes makes me want to fluff up feathers that I don't have!" It was a strange sensation in her body, even if she knew where it came from.

"I think that maybe depends on what you're doing and if you can find ways to make it fun at work. If you suddenly gain inflexible deadlines and have to work yourself too hard I can see that happening, but if you can work as much as you want and make enough money to live on...I think you'd probably be fine," she said. She did technically make enough money now to live on her own if she wanted, but she preferred to share somewhere. She also had a good boss who didn't overwork his crews regularly or without good reason. "I guess it also depends how long you've been doing something," she said. "If you're living longer than a human lifetime in particular I'd guess having several different careers, even long careers that you love, is entirely reasonable." She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah that was one of the things I didn't mind about my mom moving around so much. I got to try a whole new round of bodegas and supermarkets when she was in a new area, you know, depending on what the local pocket of population was."

She considered the last seven years of work and scrunched up her nose, shaking her head a little. "No, not really. It can be a bit of a specialist thing," she explained. "I've done some, but the firm I work for doesn't specialise in that. We're more likely to do new builds or slightly more modern systems. It's the city so there are older buildings pretty regularly, but the amount of older piping is decreasing slowly. I guess it'll be a more and more specialist thing to deal with it over the years," she mused. "You still get some training on it, but all the new codes and stuff..." she trailed off and shrugged.

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Cianán and Heidi

keenspirit
2024-12-07 01:15 pm UTC (link)

Smiling fondly as he thought of one of his favourite haunts, Cianán nodded. "It's become a home; I even get special secret menu items." He'd always been drawn to community hubs with music, whether that was the local church or the local pub. Her comment about getting wet made him remember something from one of his lectures. "Actually, I think I have heard that before, I just forgot." It wasn't particularly relevant for counselling, so it hadn't stayed at the forefront of his mind. Her description was vividly evocative, Cianán's eyes widening in appreciation. "You definitely have a way with words, even outside of puns," he assured.

"I think you have to be extremely fortunate to work only as much as you want and make enough money," he mused, voice quieting as he thought about the generations of the O'Malleys he'd watched struggle for their crust of bread. "Or long-lived." With interest rates and investments, that did help, so much so that he knew some disgruntled groups of mortals felt banks ought to change their policies to account for it. "Even if you could choose your own hours, there's still the issue of making things to other people's schedules and specifications. Creating art for yourself is one thing, creating art for someone else can be a minefield." The experience of trying all the new shops when you moved was one he could relate to. It came with pitfalls, too, of having to integrate into a new social scene, but music helped enormously with that. "Where was your favourite pocket of population?" he asked.

Given what Heidi had just reminded him of, it was hard to be as sad about the disappearing older piping as Cianán might have felt otherwise. "I suppose it's not really a field where retro can come back into fashion," he mused lightly. "Unless you get faux older systems made with new materials." Unlikely, as the piping probably wasn't on display.

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-07 08:10 pm UTC (link)

"Oooh, you've charmed Sunny!" Heidi said, impressed. Not that Sunny was a hard-ass, but in her experience it took something to truly work your way in to special treatment in any bar. "Or at least some of the staff." She nodded, it made sense that he had heard about the aversion birds had to water, even if he could simply transfer it over from most regular birds. "Aww, thanks," she said, her smile thoroughly pleased, slightly feeling the heat in her cheeks. It was one thing to be complimented by a friend or someone flirting with you, but something about a new person who clearly wasn't showing an interest like that complimenting her was particularly affecting.

She understood his point, and she agreed, well knowing the sorts of hours some people had to make ends meet. "I'm lucky that my job is union so I get a decent wage," she said. "I know it's not that easy for everyone. But if people could work just regular full time hours and make enough to live on that would be amazing," she said. She knew it was sort of an anti American ethos, but people deserved to be comfortable and happy. "Yeah, I can see that might take the joy out of it," she agreed. "I think I just like working my almost-regular hours and then being able to clock out and have time to do whatever," she said. "My favourite, hmm, let me think," she said, having to actually pause and think about it. She decided to eat another couple of bites while she ran through some of the options in her head. "Okay, as much as I love being in a pocket where I don't look out of place I need me somewhere with amazing food. And I love a sweet from Little Italy or Little Greece, but everyone knows those places," she said. "Give me, something a bit more unusual like Steinway Street that has some amazing Egyptian places. Or I'll tour all the dumplings from anywhere from Asia to Eastern Europe, to anywhere else," she said. She'd found that almost every culture had something like a dumpling and she was basically yet to find one she didn't enjoy at least trying. "I run into language troubles everywhere because I only know some High School Spanish and a few greetings, but I did my best."

"I mean you can still get repro stuff of old fittings," she said. "But it's not really worth it for the pipes so much," she added. "Unless there's some sort of preservation thing there's not much point mimicking some stuff, and a lot is hidden behind walls, but the fittings can totally look the part."

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Cianán and Heidi

keenspirit
2024-12-07 11:18 pm UTC (link)

"A few of the staff more so than Sunny directly," Cianán agreed. "I'm there so often, and I'm vegetarian, some of them take pity on me and let me order off the books." There was already some choice, but as he really could be there multiple times a week on occasion, it hadn't taken long to try everything they offered multiple times. Seeing her pleasure at his compliment, Cianán's own smile only widened until it dimpled his cheeks, enjoying bring this small moment of joy to complement the larger one they were here to celebrate. Speaking of celebrating, his glass was empty and he didn't quite feel ready to go home.

Heidi's vision would be amazing indeed, and Cianán nodded. "Something to aim for," he agreed, with a thought of Bea, certain they'd had similar conversation in the past about progress and the march of it. There was something in her phrasing which made him think of his own out-of-hours calls, the supernatural ones rather than professional. On the one hand, he would love for them to stop. On the other, didn't the O'Malleys deserve to have someone to witness them in that way? Cianán simply had to believe it was serving some greater cosmic purpose. "As you say, with a longer life, it hardly feels like I've been doing my current job for enough time to judge." Settling back, he enjoyed listening to her process her thoughts, a small glimpse into the inner workings of her mind. "Egyptian! I've had Lebanese; I have no idea if those are similar." He'd had other African cuisines, too, but he couldn't currently call a map of Africa to mind to determine how close or far they might be from Egypt.

"Something poetic about all that work hidden behind walls," Cianán decided, off on a mental tangent wondering if there were any songs he could think of about pipes. Plenty of songs about water, but fewer about directing it and - "Ah, I read a poem once about racing raindrops." He gave his head a little shake. "Sorry. That was really barely related. Association of ideas, but also proof that maybe I should go get a soft drink."

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-08 06:11 pm UTC (link)

Looking down at her plate, which had a whole mix of food, prominently including bacon because if brunch food was an excuse for anything it was bacon. She gave him a slightly apologetic smile. "Yeah, I can understand how that might make you some friends. The menu tends to be pretty meat-heavy," she said. She cut up a neatly meat-free bite of waffle and ate it. "Shifters and weres tend towards being omnivores, I'm sure you realised. I know there are some who manage without meat, but it tends to be tricky with the need for high calorie intake," she said. If he had been offended she was sure he would have mentioned it before, but in this town it was hard to get away from big eaters.

With a quick look around at the rainbow surroundings Heidi smiled, and then looked back to Cianán. "At least today feels one step closer to that sort of thing being possible," she said, the warm feeling suffusing her chest as she breathed in. "I'd say you'll need to let me know how it's turning out in a while, but a while is probably far longer for you than me," she said, amused. "You know I don't remember having Lebanese," she admitted thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how far away they are, my geography of that part of the world isn't great." She shrugged without much apology. "Honestly though I fell in love with Koshary. You've got to respect a dish that involves three different types of carbs!" she joked. "Although, maybe you'd like it, it is generally vegetarian," she said. "Actually quite a lot of Egyptian food was, loads of pulses for protein and yoghurt," she said.

She snorted slightly. "People think it's poetic until we have to pull their walls or floors up to get at the problem," she said. Sometimes the issues were with exposed pipework, but she had definitely had issues where clients had complained about the necessary mess needed to fix their issues. She laughed delightedly at his random topic jump. "I mean, no need on my account, but I guess it depends how you're getting home." She was sure Bea or someone else would stop him driving after drinking, but if he hadn't got something lined up she wouldn't mind running him home as long as he didn't mind the work van.

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Cianán and Heidi

keenspirit
2024-12-08 09:17 pm UTC (link)

He caught her gaze down and shook his head, waving away any concern she might feel that it bothered him to see other people eat meat. He'd never have made it through the late 1800s had that been the case. "I don't actually need to eat," he admitted. "Given that, meat never really seemed necessary." What he didn't come right out and say was that it didn't feel right to take a life, even the life of an animal, when he could survive perfectly well without it. There was more than enough death in the world to provide for the people who benefitted from protein more than he did.

"It does," he agreed. The two things weren't strictly related, but he understood the general sense of moving towards the world they might envision. He chuckled as he answered, "Oh, I think I'll have decided within your lifetime. I'm enjoying it so far. In some ways, it doesn't feel so different; I think music can be a therapy all its own." Her enthusiasm was infectious, though Cianán hadn't heard of the dish she mentioned. He made an effort to puzzle out what, if anything at all, he knew of ingredients available in that kind of area. "Rice, yams and... something with wheat?" He was probably wrong. "I'll have to see if I can find some."

Raising a hand, he gestured to indicate a point well made. "I admit, I wouldn't love having my walls ripped out, even aside from how inconvenient that sounds." Logically, he knew the house couldn't feel any kind of disturbance, but he'd always formed an attachment to places and things, perhaps because they were more likely to last his own lifespan than most humans were. "Not on your account," he promised. "Simply because I'm starting to lose track of conversations as they happen. Soft drinks between glasses of Champagne will be a more manageable pace."

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-10 05:14 pm UTC (link)

Heidi deflated slightly in relief when Cianan seemed to assure her he didn't mind other people eating meat. When he explained further she understood. "Ohhhh," she said, the word drawing out along with her realisation. "Yes, that makes sense," she said. "There are plenty of tasty vegetarian things you can eat little bits of if you want. And it's not like I don't enjoy those too, or there's Rashmi who is obsessed with salads." Heidi understood it, she really did, but she was far less dedicated to the need to have salad all the time.

"Well enjoying it to start with is a good thing," she said. "I wasn't sure how you were judging the timescales, but that's good. I'm hoping to live a good while yet," she said. His trying to work out what was in Koshary was hilarious, because the mix hadn't even made sense to her when she first tried it. "Rice yes, but pasta, and vermicelli noodles, plus lentils, chickpeas and a tomato sauce, loads of onion and garlic, plus spices, and then add hot sauce if you want it. Honestly it might be a bit much for you to eat a lot of," she said, now armed with the knowledge that he didn't need to eat. "Definitely worth trying if you like the idea though," she said.

"Yeah, most people don't. Even when you're careful about it," she agreed. She hadn't realised quite how tipsy he might be, but a lack of food probably easily made sense of that. "Oh don't let me stop you then. Or feel obliged to come back to me. We're meant to be moving around after all," she said. She was hoping to speak to him again before the celebration wrapped up, but she could wait for it quite happily.

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Cianán and Heidi

keenspirit
2024-12-12 09:28 pm UTC (link)

Having forgotten that particular quirk of Rashmi's, Cianán laughed. "That might be another thing we bonded over," he agreed. "I understand the appeal of a good salad. One of my favourite ways to try new ingredients." Heidi was right about enjoying little bits of things. "It's quite a luxury, eating purely for taste and texture without needing to worry about sustenance."

Reaching out, Cianán gave Heidi's arm a small and nearly avuncular pat. "I hope that too." In general, Cianán hoped for long lives for everyone, even people he had no personal connection to. His eyebrows crept up at the list of carbs, giving his whole-hearted agreement that it sounded like a lot. "Small portions," he decided, going back to Heidi's earlier point. "And even if not that -" He paused as he tried to find his way out of that sentence, having to shake his head to focus back in on what he'd meant. "Other Egyptian dishes," he proffered. Even if Koshary wasn't for him, there were doubtless other options to explore.

Cianán probably could have asked Heidi questions about plumbing all night without getting bored, but he did want to move around some more, perhaps track down some of the people he'd met at Bea's various events. In a moment of inspiration, he glanced at Heidi's plate. "You could come with me? Alternate introductions?"

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Re: Cianán and Heidi

heid_and_seek
2024-12-13 06:16 pm UTC (link)

"I like a salad, but it's not what I always search out. Clearly," she said. She really couldn't imagine being able to eat something only for the flavour, as a shifter she had always had a large appetite and quite the need for food to keep herself healthy and able to shift.

"I mean there's a good stuffed tomato you might like some of, but it's full of rice, so maybe not all of it. And there's always falafel, but I assume you know that," she offered. "But yes, lots of things to try. And lots of things are vegetarian from what I remember."

Heidi looked down at her plate, which was actually getting fairly empty since she had been eating when Cianán talked. "Oh, yeah that works too," she said. "I may need a refill on food and drink anyway," she said. She quickly neatened the food on her plate so she could fit more in and pushed up out of her chair.

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