(no subject)

[sythyry]

Seeing Me Off To Work! [9 Thory 4262]

Since it was an every-third-day, I went to work. Since I have been so skittish and crumbulous lately, Strenata was waiting by the Halflight Gate. (Not 'in case I panicked and ran away and the nendrai destroyed the city', that was mostly last week. Just in case.) I'm pretty used to that.

What I'm not used to is, so was Mynthë.

Me:"Hello, Mynthë! What brings you here?"

Mynthë:"It's an easy place to find you, for one thing."

Me:"Oh, good. I was lost, and afraid I'd never be found again!"

Mynthë:"Prof. Wynge does have that effect on people!"

Seeks-Asparagus:"Oh, heavens, we'd better get to writing that paper, hadn't we?"

Mynthë:"What's it about again?"

Me:"About how getting gifts from pseudo-primes from other universes hurts nendrai."

Mynthë:"It does?"

Me:"Fiarel's boyfriend did it, and it did."

Mynthë:"Does it work with pseudo-primes from this universe too? Norren, say, or meersnar?"

Me:"What are those?"

Mynthë:"I'll tell you after work! I think you'd better go nendrai-tending now, right?"

Me:"Better not to be late for that."

Which lead to...

Tongue Tricks

Vae:"Hiio, Sythyry! The smell of hope is all on you!"

Me:"Um, hope?"

Vae:"And are you in love again?"

Me:"I ... don't think so."

Vae:"And did another foreign Orren noble seduce you?"

Me:"No, nothing like that."

Vae:"And did another shameridden common Orren get seduced by your wealth and power?"

Me:"No, nothing like that. No seduction at all, actually."

Vae:"And what kind of Orren is it, then?"

Me:"A Herethroy kind of Orren, and I don't know that we're doing anything more than just the one very innocent date."

Vae:"The smell of excitement is not so weak on you! Not a hint did I have that anyone but Orren would do that to you."

Me:"I'm traff, I can fall in love with any other species. I guess I'm working on Herethroy next."

Vae:"Not so for me! The same species as me is what I am working on. The boy though I must be to do it!"

So I gave her her trinkets of the day -- some candied cauliflower, a rather-dull-but-at-least-contains-no-nendrai book of Cani dominance stories, and an ivory pickle twirler from Inihithre. (Last week I had failed to properly screen the books, and one of featured Blue Trumgullion. Who is a probably-mostly-fictional five-headed blue nendrai and popular meanie. Vae was not pleased.) And averted my eyes, and we both pretended that the physical basis of our relationship is meaningless and a mere unfortunate divine curse or something. Which is is.

Comments

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Hmm, how about bonstables? Can they give Nendrai presents?

[calamitous-cani.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I do hope Seeks approves of your, ah.. taste in mates. Zie does seem like a good sort.. *mutters something about 'if you were a herethroy..' and coughs politely, gnashing teeth and tucking ears back* and.. seems like a.. good influence on you.
I hope zie doesn't plan some elaborate scam with highly dangerous monsters trading highly painful knick-knacks.

[calamitous-cani.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely, I'm sure it would be an interesting thing for Vae to go to Brenthany and demand that everyone in the village give her presents. That place has PROBLEMS. I myself have seen far, far more bonstables already than anyone should be forced to encounter in nine lifetimes though; I am in no hurry to see any more.
Fortunately I don't expect to deal with any more, just lots of injured or insane people. And my neighbors. And the noise from my Khtsoyis neighbor's drumming practice, at reasonable hours, when I am trying to study my anatomy texts. Pure bliss, in comparison.

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

What is a pickle twirler? How does one use it? Which pickles are twirled to particularly good effect? How does a twirled pickle differ from an untwirled one? Is there a particular reason that ivory is used to make one?

I ask because one of my goals in life is to sample every kind of pickle in existence. I've never heard of pickle twirling, but that the twirled pickle only exists in another universe is no bar to my interest.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

yea, I want to know too!

Also, are our definitions of pickles the same in both universes, or is it a mistranslation?

Uh, here, a pickle is a "pickled cucumber", which is a fruit that is so not-sweet that it is generally a vegetable, and only a fruit to those who get all rassimel over the topics of categorizing fruits and vegetables. It is "pickled", or preserved in salted water or vinegar, to make it taste sour or salty. Ours would generally not gain anything from being twirled, other than the fact that you have a fruit that has been rotated a bit...

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

>a rather-dull-but-at-least-contains-no-nendrai book of Cani dominance
>stories

Lady Latterley's Choofer?

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! A pickle can be based on any of a number of things. The cucumber pickles are most common around here - the dill, the sweet pickle, the mustard pickle, the garlic pickle, the half sour (my pick for the Best Pickle Ever), but you can easily find Japanese fast brine pickles, Italian giardinera, Afghani toorshi with mint, or any of a number of other pickles. Pickled watermelon rind is an American staple. There are even meats pickled in honey. "Pickle" is an appallingly broad term; this is why I use it as a life's goal: I can duck into *any* restaurant in the world and expect to find a variation on the pickle.

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

Winner.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

A pickle twirler is a fork sort of thing, with the top on a swivel so that it can rotate freely. It is made of meng. The antique store labeled it "pickle twirler". I've never seen one before, and don't know how it is used.

[rowyn]

Mynthë's very sweet. Are you planning to do anything nice for zir before your next date?

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

*doesn't get the reference, and would like some info so he can get it, thanks*

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

cf. Lady Chatterly's Lover, a famedly indecent book (though probably very soft by modern standards.)

[calamitous-cani.livejournal.com]

Ah! I recognize the implement, or rather I think I do. There is a root vegetable common in certain places which is at times served as a side dish. I do not recall the name at this instant. It comes in pieces which are very long, thin, and flexible. Cutting it excessively during preparation tends to diminish it's quality, as the cut ends tend to take on somewhat unpleasant textures; it is sold wrapped in loops in mild brine or syrup, with the ends capped in wax. When I saw it it was coiled about the main dish, and the end of the coil was lifted, uncoiled, and eaten with a forked implement somewhat similar to that description. I could, of course, be thinking of a different fork-like thing; certainly there is no shortage of those in the world.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Didn't zie imply that the next date was going to be immediately after the nendrai? That's not much time!

[rowyn]

Oh, um, Sythyry could give zir whatever Sythyry embezzles from the nendrai this week?

....

Okay, maybe better to wait for the third date to do something romantic for zir.