OOM - upstairs with Sinric

[i_am_your_host]

During Emcee's recovery in his room, he became a recluse. He couldn't find the motivation to go downstairs (too tired, too lazy, too sad, too unsure of himself), so he would ask George to see if any of his friends were around. To talk, and perhaps to let the talking lead to other things. Jay, Sinric...even Eric.

At least, he thought, he might be ready to take up his other old habits.

(He wasn't certain if he could feel Eric's presence. It might have just been wishful thinking. Or not.)

As it happens, Sinric is in the bar when George goes on this particular errand. He floats up to the long-haired blond and chirps out the sounds Emm See! at him, and moves backward toward the stairs as a gesture to follow.

Comments

[i_am_your_host]

He breathes out a soft chuckle and nods, his longing gaze still on the map. America is so far away it might not even exist.

"Yes. Yes, of course. When I reach there."

When, not if.

Emcee has no idea what New York City will be like, but he will have to brace himself for it.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric nods and takes Emcee's hand, guiding it to a place in Ragnar's frozen north. "This is Ribe. In years to come and years ago, Ragnar will meet a wanderer who will fill is mind with ideas. He will take those ideas home to Kattigat." He slides Emcee's fingers over the map. "Those ideas will lead him to build a boat. He and those he trusts will sail here." He guides Emcee's fingers to Lindisfarne. "There he will kidnap a young monk he will later come to love."

He smiles sadly, moving his own hand back to Ribe. "But here ends the path I know. A wanderer in a tavern. For all I could see, I could not see my own thread past this knot. It may be that I die, or that I am not meant to know. But here, on a beach made of stones, I will have changed their lives."

He looks into Emcee's eyes. "Wherever our threads lead us, we are always part of the whole. Always connected." He entwines Emcee's fingers in his own.

[i_am_your_host]

Ragnar. Athelstan. Sinric.

Emcee looks at him, his eyes wide. It makes no sense yet is perfectly clear. Ragnar has already met Sinric's older self. The wanderer.

He turns back to the map, marveling at the way the three are connected in time. And as if echoing his thoughts, Sinric says so and laces their fingers together. Emcee looks at him again. So he and Sinric are somehow connected, too.

"Part of the whole," he murmurs. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

He's about to ask him if he could see his thread, if he could look to where it leads, when there's a knock on the door.

"Our food is here," he says a little breathlessly.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric keeps hold of Emcee's hand a moment longer, not yet letting Emcee pull away. "Yes." He answers, as if Emcee had asked aloud. "I will look, if you want me to. For your friends, and for you. If you need to know, I will look."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee's breath catches, and he swallows.

"Thank you," he says, lifting their joined hands to kiss Sinric's fingers.

"I may need some fortification first, if I am to learn what you see. Let us eat a bit, and then maybe I will be ready."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric smiles and presses a kiss to Emcee's cheek, breaking the spell of seriousness. "As do I. Our morning had been hungry work already."

He bounces over to the door, greeting the poor rats under their heavy tray of food and thanks them sincerely.

He places the tray on table by the portico so they can sit and enjoy the view of the snow spotted gardens while they eat.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee gladly joins him at the table, uncovering this plate and that, passing over utensils and cloth napkins to Sinric as he settles down. Everything looks and smells wonderful. He tears a warm, slightly sweet bread roll in half and slathers it with orange marmalade; the scrambled eggs are cooked perfectly; the sharp, nutty cheeses go well with the smoked sausages. It's an easy meal to tuck into.

"Would you like to taste anything of mine?" he offers, popping a piece of cheese into his mouth.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric grins and steals a bite of Emcee's roll. "Lovely! Would you like to try some of mine?" The spicy rice dish has a runny fried egg resting on top of it.

The fruit salad is just as exotic. He cuts open a purplish fruit, slightly wrinkled. "The bar introduced him to this. I think you'll like it." He scoops out the pips and offers them to Emcee. "Slurp it down like an oyster."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee reaches over with a fork to sample a bit of rice soaked in egg yolk. "Oh, that is delicious," he says as the spice kicks in. "It's not very often that I get to eat rice at all."

He watches him cut the odd fruit open and holds his hand out.

"What is this called?" He tips the contents of the palm of his hand into his mouth.

[thewidewideworld]

"Passion fruit." Sinric smile, holding up two more of the slightly wrinkled fruit by the stem. "Which seems appropriate to me. The seeds of passion." They do look rather like two hairless purple balls.

[i_am_your_host]

The tart-sweetness surprises him. "Oh, the fabled passion fruit! I have only ever heard about it, but neither seen nor tasted it before."

And then he sees what Sinric is referring to.

"All we need is a banana to complete the picture," he says, not-so straight-faced.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric sniggers and slices another one open to share with Emcee. "A banana indeed."

He savours the passion fruit before moving in to a kiwi fruit. "I asked the bar one day for treats for lands I might never see. More fool me. Now I come to crave fruits I will never see in my own time."

[i_am_your_host]

"I think the most exotic fruit I have ever tasted at home is the pineapple. It comes all the way from a tropical island called Hawaii."

Or California. Herr Schultz would occasionally point that out. But even so.

He eyes the next fruit that looks like a brown hairy ball.

"What is that one?"

[thewidewideworld]

"In Tang it's called Mihou tao but the bar also called this type kiwifruit." He peels off the furry brown skin with a sharp knife to reveal the bright green flesh beneath.

He offers Emcee a slice.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee carefully takes the slippery, succulent slice between his fingers and drops it onto his tongue.

"Oh my," he murmurs as he chews slowly, savoring the juices. "That really is lovely. It's amazing what kind of fruity delights one can find all over the world. And how lucky we are that we can spoil ourselves here without having to travel to the four corners."

[thewidewideworld]

"In food and in company." Sinric smiles, licking juice from his fingers unselfconsciously.

[i_am_your_host]

"I would count ourselves among the fruity delights," he says with a grin, mirroring Sinric's finger-licking.

[thewidewideworld]

"Oh yes!" Sinric laughs warmly. "We are that indeed." He reaches out to stroke Emcee's arm.

[i_am_your_host]

"From the same tree. But different branches. One on the west side, one on the east."

He rubs the back of Sinric's hand with an affectionate smile and hums a comfortable and contented sigh.

[thewidewideworld]

"Just so." Sinric smiles affectionately. "Creaking along our branches to be near. And to trade stories of the worlds we see."

He steals a bite of sausage. "And to share each other's treats."

[i_am_your_host]

He smirks good-naturedly at the petty pilfering.

"And to share ourselves with each other as well," he adds, nibbling on a piece of bread. "There is no greater treat than that."

[thewidewideworld]

"Just so." Sinric finishes off her bowl of fruit, turning serious for a moment. "Will you excuse me for a few moments? If I'm to look into the weave of fate, I need to prepare."

[i_am_your_host]

"Oh, of course," he says, also serious, sitting up straighter. "Is there anything I can do to help? Or-- should I myself do something to help make your search easier?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Do you have something that particularly remind you of the friends you want me to seek? A song, a memory?"

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee frowns in deep thought.

"I...yes, I do. There are so many, though, we have done and been through so much together. But I can focus on some things. The most meaningful to me. Would that help?"