So, a second chapter... Yeeaahh, I came up with a story idea (and finally got some extra time to waste) and decided that instead of having a ridiculous amount of separate oneshots on my profile, I should try to pool some of them up. Since this one kinda fit into the theme of Kratos learning something new about a party member, I decided I should start to put stories I come up with like that here. (A couple people had this story on alert anyway, and I kinda felt bad about not making it clear that it was originally a oneshot).
This one has to do with Raine, but do not fret! It still has a Lloyd, a Genis and a Colette in it.
Disclaimer: Game/characters in Tales of Symphonia = not mine.
Limes, Coconuts, and Confused Mercenaries
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Uhm, the Professor's been down there for a while now… maybe somebody should go check on her?"
"Yeah, I mean, who knows what Raine could be doing. I knew letting her do this on her own was a bad idea…"
"H-hey! Don't look at me! No way I'm going down there- remember the last time I tried to help the Professor with that? Have uh... Kratos do it!"
"…"
"Yeah, heh, see? Kratos will do it! Right Kratos?"
"I did no-"
"Wow, what a great guy! Just go down there and make sure she hasn't hurt herself or anyone else 'kay?"
"Thank you so much mister Kratos!"
"Well, be careful."
"…"
---
Sometimes Kratos wondered why he let himself get into these sorts of predicaments.
Kratos had pondered at the looks of trepidation and discomfort the three children had shown at the prospect of trudging down the spiraling stairs of the House of Salvation their group had chosen for the night and checking on their voluntary cook, but he could never have guessed what he would find upon arriving in the quaint kitchen there.
What Kratos Aurion did find was a complete mess, and what he had once regarded as a composed and intelligent women. Spoons and forks were stuck in places they did not naturally belong; pots and pans were strewn across the wooden counter tops and in one case the dry dirt floor (Kratos didn't want to know); interesting colors of spices and liquids smeared the once relatively clean stovetop- and teacher; and the overwhelmed woman was fluttering over three pots at risk of boiling over and an assortment of half chopped fruits and vegetables like a bird over her nest, trying to evenly allot her attention- and failing. Miserably.
On some levels, Kratos almost pitied the poor Half-Elvin woman for her lack of culinary skills in the slightest- she had been so preoccupied with her endeavors, she had yet to notice Kratos' arrival in the kitchen beside her (which confused him as to why she had so earnestly insisted upon making the dinner herself). But on even more levels (as Kratos began to realize the longer he observed the liquids bubbling over the stove) he pitied himself and the three others nervously awaiting their meal.
One pot contained what looked like very chunky split-pea soup, or at least displayed the color of it; another didn't even have a liquid in it, but instead held an unusual array of beans and assumedly roughly chopped orange peels; and the last pot… Kratos really couldn't tell. It was either a liquid or a solid, and he couldn't confidently say which… The odors wafting up from the three entrees didn't betray the physical appearance of the food either; Kratos' had first become suspicious when he entered the stairwell and was hit by an almost tangible wall of garlic, eggs, and sugar- especially offensive to his heightened senses.
Kratos decided to watch the odd but disturbing behavior of the silver haired teacher as she poked, prodded, measured, and cut before announcing his arrival. Kratos imagined that this innocent and well worn kitchen had been transformed into something much more sinister and impartial upon the arrival of Professor Sage. Laboratory repeatedly screamed itself in his mind as he watched her turn from her projects altogether to jot something down on the now rather soggy notepad she seemed to carry with her everywhere.
Kratos raised his voice to overcome the noise of clattering metals and angrily boiling liquids.
"Ms. Sage, I was sent down by the Chosen and the other two to check your progress. They seemed rather worried."
Raine's silver head bobbed upwards from her notes as if she had been jerked by a fishing line.
"Kratos! Thank goodness, I needed someone to help me with my experiments…" Her voice trailed off as she was once again distracted by the stove, abruptly dropping her notes. Kratos noted a certain sparkle akin to the one that had appeared upon entering the Triet Ruins filling her light blue eyes as she spoke.
Kratos sighed. This was why they had forced this task upon him. Kratos was being swept up by the perplexing actions of a scientifically driven mind. Kratos was reluctant, but though he was cold, he did not possess the cruelty in his heart to leave an obviously beleaguered woman with so much to do at one time. He only possessed an emptiness that propelled him to submit, something that had not always been one of his traits.
"I'll help however I can," he responded detachedly, unsure how to begin participating in chef work of the likes witnessed before him.
"Here," the Professor shoved a hard round object into his arms and turned back immediately to shuffle through the many drawers adorning the cabinets.
Kratos glanced down at the coarse orb and immediately raised an eyebrow in recognition- and mild surprise. He held within his grasp a small coconut, husk and all. Where the woman had managed to find such a rarity in this area of Sylvarant was beyond Kratos however.
Kratos instinctually jerked up from his observation of the tropical fruit just in time to catch a large butcher knife tossed distractedly at him from Raine's direction. He made a mental note never to let the Chosen aid the teacher in the kitchen- or anyone else for that matter. With butcher knife in one hand and fuzzy shelled fruit in the other, the mercenary silently awaited his orders.
"Please cut it in half, but don't spill any of the milk out. I want to use it for something."
Kratos took a moment to watch the Half-Elf make a forceful attack on what was undecidedly liquid before stabbing the knife into the coconut and working it around the shell, holding the two halves together after finishing to preserve anything inside from spilling out.
Task done, Kratos once again turned to the woman, just in time to see her spill a red spice into a small measuring spoon- and all over her sleeve.
"Anything else you wish me to do Ms. Sage?"
Dumping the heaping spoonful of what Kratos now recognized as cumin into the coagulating mixture, Raine turned and began to dig through one of the bags containing their food stores, or what was left of their food stores.
"Yes, just wait a moment."
Eyes becoming tired of watching her energetic searching, Kratos turned to observe the pot Raine had been focusing much of her attention on since his arrival. The color of the unknown substance had turned from a light brown to a murky green. Kratos watched in distaste as a single bubble rose from the semi-liquid and popped with sickening lethargy.
Kratos eyes tore away from the abomination that was dinner and focused on half of a small citric fruit that had been placed on the counter next to him. It was bright green, and speckled with dimples on the rubbery peel encasing it. One half of a lime, peel still attached. Raine began chopping red peppers into uneven pieces as she gave her instructions.
"Please put the lime into the coconut and shake it for a couple of minutes while a take care of…" she squinted at the pots on the stove, "… dinner."
Kratos remained as apathetic as ever, and simply stared back at her.
"What?"
Raine cast a dubious look at the mercenary, as if he were a five year old child who could not perform a simple task, and reworded her request.
"If you would please take the coconut, open it, place the lime inside, and shake it, you would be helping me out considerably with dinner." She finished chopping the peppers and prodded the surface of the murky green soup (?) with her stirring spoon, watching as it jiggled slightly. Perhaps she was making a new type of gel?
"But… why?"
Of all the requests Kratos had received during this unfolding "Journey of Regeneration", of all the comments and of all the conversations, this was the most ridiculous (and with Lloyd on the team, he had already been subjected to some fairly absurd topics and questions).
Raine huffed irritably and reached up to grab some oven mittens hanging above the stove. "If you don't want to help me you can just go back up with the children." She proceeded to lift up the large pot with difficulty and place it in the oven, closing the door quickly in its wake.
Feeling slightly offended, Kratos decided against further questioning and took the familiar path of absolute obedience. Kratos carefully parted the coconut and dropped the lime into the milk, closing it back up afterwards and sloshing the milk inside around, the lime bumping against the inside of the shell with every movement. Indeed, after what seemed to be two minutes, the half-elf held up a hand from her position at the stove.
"That'll do. I don't think I'll need any more assistance after this." She approached the mercenary and plucked the combination of fruit from his grip, turning to the cutting board she had been working at previously.
Kratos lingered in the kitchen for a few moments, empty handed, and undecided if he should continue to watch over the haphazard cook. However, after watching the healer swipe the red pepper into the coconut, and proceeding to shake that, Kratos decided that it would be better for his sanity and his stomach if he returned upstairs.
---
"So..." Lloyd leaned forward in his chair and peered at Kratos with questioning eyes as he approached the table, "She's alive right? What was she making?"
Kratos pulled out the chair he had earlier occupied and dropped down into the seat, closing his eyes in a tired way.
"Yes. And for the life of me, I have no idea."
"You did seewhat she was making didn't you?" The mage seated next to Lloyd asked with a slightly elementary tone, which irritated Kratos to no end.
With a hint of sarcasm Kratos responded, "Why yes, yes I did."
All three of the seated youths straightened in their seats, casting nervous glances at each other. Kratos assumed they had gone through this ordeal in the past. He almost felt sorry.
After a short and queasy silence, Genis once again piped up with another question aimed at the mercenary, but with genuine curiosity lacing his words.
"Anyway, what took you so long? It shouldn't have taken you twenty minutes just to check on her."
"She had me help her do something."
"Oh, really? What did she make you do?"
"I... put a lime in a coconut and shook it."
"You… what?" Lloyd was the one to respond this time.
"Put a lime in a coconut and shook it."
"But… why?"
Kratos sighed and leaned back in his chair, almost glad that the young trio thought it as odd as him.
"I have no idea."
Silence enveloped the small room as their small trickle of conversation dried up, leaving the four to gloomily contemplate their upcoming dinner.
"Hmmm… weird." Lloyd's attempt at sparking the conversation into life failed, and he shifted anxiously in his seat…
Tataptap Taptaptap
Kratos flinched at the intrusive sound of Lloyd's fingers against the tabletop, and sent the boy a look that caused him to quickly withdraw his fingers from the wooden surface as if they could be snapped off at a moment's notice.
But of course, that would not stop Lloyd's never ending quest to entertain himself.
"... You put da lime in da coconut and shake it a-all up, you put da lime in da coconut and shake it a-all up-"
Lloyd's odd chant earned a stifled giggle from the petite blonde next to him, and a perturbed look from the young mage.
Kratos was less impressed.
"Lloyd."
"Sorry…" Lloyd mumbled, retracting slightly at the tone and looking to his thumbs for alternative amusement.
Satisfied with the silence, Kratos leaned forward in his chair with a forlorn creak and rested his forearms on the table top, examining the grain of the dark wooden surface. He heard a muffled shuffling noise from under the table and a quiet whine as the previously hidden Noishe snaked his head onto the angel's lap, begging for the man's hard won affection.
Moving one hand under the table to absent-mindedly stroke the large animal between the eyes, Kratos began thinking, worrying; something that had become a bad habit of his since the beginning of the Regeneration Journey. They were already a nearly a week in, and they still had yet to set out for the second seal guardian. In his pre-journey planning, Kratos would have expected the group to be already traveling to Palmacosta to find out more about the seals and where to head next (something Kratos did not need in the least but was compelled to agree to for the sake of his cover). Too many unexpected problems were popping up, two of which were sitting across the table from him. One of whom caused an anxious pain to pierce his lower abdomen whenever he broached the thought the Tower of Salvation, where he would likely have to-
"You put da lime in da coconut and shake it a-all up, you put da lime in da coconut and shake it a-all up-"
Kratos growled quietly, causing Noishe to withdraw his head, and buried his face in his arms.
It was going to be a long trip.
I'll continue to add oneshots as long as anyone is interested and I have ideas. So leave a review if you feel so inclined, I would really apreciate it. And if you happen to have an idea for a future story you might like to share, feel free to do so. Inspiration is few and far between for me.
Enough of this, I hope you enjoyed this... odd chapter!