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Tweak says, "You flunked flank?"

Zidane Tribal (foolhardy_thief) wrote in hobbs_end,
@ 2015-09-03 14:38:00

Entry tags:

ffix: zidane tribal, ouat: killian jones, rating: pg

WHO: Hook & Zidane
WHERE: The Fox and Hounds pub.
WHAT: Part dare, part free-food, amongst other things! Follow-up to Zidane's souvenier hunt.
RATING PG.
STATUS: Just started; private.

Did Zidane expect to be the first one at the pub, or the last? He was more inclined to the latter, and for no reason other than curiousity. He would have wanted to see what would happen, should he be the last one to arrive. However, he could never say no to free food, even though none of it would actually be paid for. Zidane didn’t think of it as theft, because… because there was no one around to claim ownership in the first place.

For all he knew, he was going to lose the challenge. Zidane had definitely made the trip his number one priority, and when he arrived at the pub, there was no pirate captain waiting outside. Which could mean that said captain was inside the building, of course. Zidane pushed his way in, leaving the front door half-open.

Nah, there was no one to be seen inside, either. He took this as a sign that he had won, and so he headed straight for the back room. It wasn’t a pantry, and it wasn’t exactly a proper kitchen, as it turned out. The name didn’t matter; what did, was the abundance of food.

Of course, that may be exaggeration of Zidane’s part. While there was food to be found, there was considerably less of it than, say, what would have been available a week, or two weeks ago. Zidane only had a quick browse of the dual fridges and one of the walk-in pantries, making a list in his head of what he’d tell Hook to ‘buy’.

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arcane
2015-09-05 02:32 pm UTC (link)

The sandwich was familiar enough, and the tin too. Such methods of preserving food were, admittedly, more modern than Hook's time period as well - but he had come from Storybrooke, which was a place well beyond ideas like electricity and can openers, so he at least recognised the method for what it was. "Here..."

He punctured the top with the tip of his hook, quite sharp, and then dug in to peel back the metallic seal all the way and thus exposing the fruit inside. "There might be a proper can opener around somewhere, but this method works just as well," he grinned crookedly.

Now to do a little rummaging of his own, and figure out what was available - through really, Hook was mostly looking for the alcohol. He checked the fridge to see if anything was chilling in there, and helpfully found a bottle of vodka in the icebox - ah, yes, this would do just fine. Perhaps he'd look into eating real food too - had to keep his strength up, after all.

"Run into anything unsavoury on your way over here, lad?"

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-07 01:38 am UTC (link)

Preserved food was anything but new to Zidane: only this particular process was new. It didn’t make much sense, so in Zidane’s opinion— it’s a stupid method. Glass jars and wooden crates were designed to be opened. A tin with no hinges, no lid, not even air holes.. If he was left to his own plans, he’d have gone to any length to test just how ‘indestructable’ the can is.

It was an intriguing plan, one that would have to be tested at another time. Zidane handed the tin over to Hook, half-expecting to tell the man that said tin couldn’t be opened at all. As it turned out, that shiny hook served more as just something flashy. He took back the can and stared at its contents. “There prob’ly is one, and I just didn’t recognise it. “ The teenager set aside his sandwich, paused, then he placed the tin alongside the sandwich too, freeing both hands.

Pulling off both gloves, Zidane left them atop the same cabinet with his small food hoard. “Unsavoury? Nothing’s really stood out to me.. apart from this whole place.” He picked up the can and took out a few pieces of fruit, which were basically swimming in juice. “I don’t know how good your memory is, but the food.. there was more of it around, wasn’t there? If I had taken this can a week ago, there’d be another one just like it, in its place. What’s up with that?”

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arcane
2015-09-08 11:46 am UTC (link)

After he popped the top off the bottle of vodka, a long swig was taken - and it wasn't like you were supposed to drink vodka in such a way, but Hook had long since scalded his insides by now, his esophagus and throat, so it went down his gullet easily enough and gave him the pleasant fiery burn he was looking for - the kind that made him shiver. Then he found a can himself, something that indicated beef stew was inside, and opened it the same way - with his grotesque appendage, because he couldn't be arsed to rummage for an actual can opener.

"My memory's quite good considering my age," he quipped, though it was sort of an inside joke - he looked quite young, but he was well over 300 years old. He hadn't yet mentioned that to Zidane, however. "But I've noticed that as well. Takes longer for the replacements to appear. Soon, I bet, they won't be replaced at all."

An unfortunate truth, that gave him an icy prickle in his bones as he tipped the can back and chugged from it, beef stew chunks and all.

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-10 05:25 am UTC (link)

The tinned fruit he’d found didn’t resemble anything native to Gaia, but… food was food. Nothing was wrong with the food here, save for the disappearing and reappearing acts, of course. While Hook was busy drinking what had to be engine fuel, Zidane ate a couple pieces of the preservered fruit. It didn’t taste bad, which was a little surprising. Could the same be said for the sandwich?

Zidane used his tail to hold the fruit can, and he picked up the sandwich with one hand and had a bite. It wasn’t bad, either. Swallowing, he looked towards Hook and curled his free hand into a mimic of Hook’s, er, hook. “I don’t know you that much, but even I would know that opening cans isn’t what your hook was made for. You don’t even look very old to me, and you can't say that you’re ancient, Captain.”

Dragons were believable, because they were the norm in his world. But no one, Human or otherwise, became old old.

“Have you been keeping track of the food? I haven’t, so I dunno if this has been happening for a while.. what if the food does disappear? Would you be up for some hare, wild game like that? The animals can’t disappear along with the town's food. That, that’d be…” He gestured hopelessly, trying to think of a suitable word.

“…it’d be stupid, if they disappeared.”

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arcane
2015-09-10 12:33 pm UTC (link)

"Aye, smart lad. Depends what you consider ancient. Appearances are deceiving, I suppose," he grinned, one of those devil-may-care smiles that heralded the end of the world. Perhaps it would happen, here in this town - perhaps this was where they were sent as some sort of punishment for something, to wait out the rest of their days in a mindfuck. Of course, Killian wouldn't stand for that. He would go down fighting, and fighting for his loved ones - the few that there were, but one happened to be here and she didn't exactly deserve this.

He'd eat mostly anything, so the stew from a can wasn't so bad. Not as bad as strips of leather cooked and boiled and salted on a pirate ship, when you were desperate. "I was actually thinking of heading into the woods to do some trapping anyway," he shared. "Leave the food here be, you know what I mean? Are you a hunter?"

Hook certainly hoped the animals didn't disappear too - he doubted it would happen, in fact. Otherwise most everything else would implode, without suitable plant and animal life to sustain it. He didn't know much about the scientific theory of ecosystems, but that was generally common sense. Unless magic (fucking magic, it ruined everything).

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-12 05:22 am UTC (link)

“I’m no expert, but I have seen some really old places, back home. People are different, anyway.” Zidane felt that he knew all there was to know about appearances, given that his adoptive family are all bandits, masquearding as theatre actors. There was no harm in that sort of lifestyle, in his honest opinoon: mostly because his family didn’t just steal from anyone. Captain Hook here could have been an exception, and Zidane was thankful that that hadn’t happened.

He ate a couple more pieces of the tinned fruit, putting it aside without a single thought as to how the food would keep. In this place, he’d be surprised if the food didn’t just combust in his face.

“I haven't seen many animals, to tell you the truth, but that doesn't mean there's none out there.” Although cautious didn’t easily belong in his vocabulary, Zidane did not want to think of the woods as some save haven. Even so, he considered Hook’s proposal a second time, and shrugged. “I’ve done some trapping, yeah. I’m better at stealing.” As if that would help their situation. He wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea of hunting, just so long as there were no more surprises, like the…

“You saw those skinned animals, didn’t you? Would you really eat an animal, after all that?”

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arcane
2015-09-15 12:14 pm UTC (link)

"Better at stealing?" That made the Captain chortle. "You and me both, but we make do." He finished the contents of the beef stew, and while he wished he had time for a leisurely meal it just wasn't the case - and he didn't particularly want to press his luck and look for more magically-appearing treats, so he went back to old reliable. The alcohol.

A swish and swig of the vodka, as he considered the situation. "I've eaten worse," he decided. "At least if I trap them on my own, I'd be skinning them myself. And frying them up myself. Better to do it on your own, from beginning to end - cut out the middle man."

And there was truth to that saying if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. Random forces skinning animals? Well, it could also be a warning of some sort - but he didn't mind being the one to push the boundaries a little. They wouldn't get anywhere if they didn't try.

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-20 02:24 am UTC (link)

"That's what I said, Captain. If you ever find a better thief, tell me and I'll prove you wrong." Zidane was alwaus up for a challenge, especially when burglary was the name of the game! There was something about breaking into a large manor house that appealed to him, and that did not necessarily mean the 'treasure' he'd take with him. He didn't see much point in breaking into someone's home, if there were no guards, no locks to pick, nothing.

Forgetting about the fruit tin for the moment, Zidane crossed the room to stand next to Hook. He glanced to the collection of liquor, chose one, and picked it up. "I don't think you'll be doing much trapping, if you keep drinking this. What is this crap?".

Purely a rhetorical question, he set the bottle back down and picked up another; this time, he chose one that looked similiar to the bottle that Hook was holding. He didn't recognise the label, as expected. "If you want to go set up some traps any time soon, you can count me in. If you're up for it, we can even make it another bet. I'll definitely trap more animals than you can, old man."

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arcane
2015-09-21 11:05 pm UTC (link)

Oh good, another bet. And it seemed like Killian had also gained a shadow of sorts - the last thing he needed was a young lad with a penchant for sticky fingers (though perhaps Zidane had skill, that seemed to be so - he wasn't full of hot air entirely, was he?) to be tagging along during hunting excursions. By nature, the Captain had become accustomed to being a lone wolf of sorts. His crew, they were long dead and gone, and it wasn't until he'd joined up with the ragtag crew to Neverland that he began to make better decisions that didn't only benefit him.

And Zidane...he was alright. There was a little fondness there, and it could also be that Hook still had bits of sentiment in his black-dusted heart.

"Aye, alright, sounds grand," he agreed, taking a swig from the bottle. "It's vodka, lad, it's good for you. Will put hair on your balls. Though granted, I prefer rum." There just didn't seem to be any around here, so he'd make do. Maybe next time, this worthless pub would restock and give him a keg or two of the good stuff, eh?

Well, that aside. "I'm quite eager to see your trapping skills put to good use anyway."

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-22 05:32 am UTC (link)

If there was an opportunity for a bet, Zidane could not let that moment pass. Granted, he preferred that there were prizes on hand, be it money, loot, or... a date with a girl. Seeing as he hadn't met any so far in Hobb's End, a romantic date was out of the question. He would have to make do with what is available, and that was limited to magic food and weird technology.

"Of course it's grand, it's my idea, after all." Would Zidane have accepted the game if Hook himself had suggested it? Most likely, but the teenager always did like being in control of things. He wanted to set the ground rules, the prizes, and what would happen for the loser or losers.

"Vodka... the name doesn't change that it's still crap, honestly." Zidane twisted off the cap and had a sniff of the liquor, and the look on his face was telling. He put the cap back on and returned the bottle to its rightful-- or wrongful place. He wasn't really checking, really. "And besides, I don't need to give my old man another reason to beat me." It wasn't a joke, that; Baku definitely wasn't here in town, but Zidane knew that Baku would find out, sooner or later. As if Zidane had never done anything stupid and dangerous, before. Baku and his Tantalus troupe practically lived in pubs, in between theatre shows (and burglary), but that did not give Zidane an excuse to drink alcohol.

Turning round to face Hook, Zidane leaned backwards against the cupboad, the tip of his tail twitching. " 'Quite' eager. What are you still doin' in here, then? We should probably start tomorrow morning, though. We can't hope to catch anything if we don't have any traps. I know where to find some materials, but you'll have to find your own. Finders, keepers." Zidane grinned and, in the blink of an eye, he swiped the bottle out of Hook's hand and moved to a different part of the room, a couple metres away from Hook.

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arcane
2015-09-25 12:06 am UTC (link)

Did the lad just imply that his own father beat him? That was rough. Killian, personally, didn't understand such thing's if one was a parent - he would never beat his own child, but then again, he probably shouldn't be reproducing anyway. Since he didn't have the best track record with the youngin's, especially ones that had aged mentally but were forever young on an island called Neverland - a place where madness sank into your bones, where you were at your very darkest. Let's not talk about what happened to Rufio...

Well, anyway.

"I'm accustomed to making traps, I assure you," he spoke with confidence and, since no one stole alcohol from him ever (plus, he was much more spry than his age might suggest), he snatched the bottle back quicker than the shutter of any camera lens could catch. 'Tomorrow, then. Don't see why not."

After another swig, he just set the bottle down on the counter if Zidane really wanted it.

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foolhardy_thief
2015-09-25 01:33 am UTC (link)

Zidane had been lucky enough that he was found and adopted by Baku, whose parenting methods revolved around tough love. There were certain rules one had to follow, within Tantalus, none of which were particularly difficult to follow. If you wanted to leave the group, you had to fight Baku— and Zidane’s done that a couple of times already. In retrospect, Zidane had deserved this particular beating, because he’d left home one day.. and didn’t come back until two years later. He’d left behind no message or anything to suggest why he’d left or where he’d gone.

“I bet you are, Hook. Did you have to take lessons?” The teenager hadn’t taken the liquor because he wanted to actually drink it, but when he realised it was no longer in his hand, Zidane scowled, and kicked at the nearest chair, toppling it over. It was all he needed to take out his frustration. Casually, he crossed the room and leaned against the counter that held the bottle. He set one hand on either side of the bottle, and began pushing it back and forth from one hand to the other, taking care not to let it tip over.

“I can’t wait to see the look on your face, when I win. Let’s see… we’ll meet at the north-eastern side of town, alright? Early morning, but neither of us can start until we meet again.”

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