Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
Gabe’s chest tightened, but he forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, Ara, my ex, is from a few years ago, but I ran into her recently, and it wasn’t good for either of us,” he answered. That was… a gross understatement, but he wasn’t going to get into specifics if he could help it. There were… too many potential weapons in this kitchen to vent his anger with. “Thought I loved her again, and ….ended up getting hurt again.” He could say it like this now, calm, cool, collect. Even if there was a thundering in his ears. “If you ever need to talk about yours, just let me know.”
As soon as Koray asked Gabe the question, he was already regretting the words. What followed was not something he expected. The instant he heard 'Ara', Koray's face paled, trying to rationalize away the name as some other girl. It... has to be a mistake, right? Just... just a coincidence. Right? Everything that Ara had talked about with Gabe however kept coming to mind. Including the last blog posts he remembered reading about the ball incident. He hadn't followed the blog since then but.... There was too much evidence suggesting otherwise. Koray couldn't deny that. It could be another Ara, right?
A shaky breath would be taken before Koray managed to nod. He...he knew exactly what that felt like. Arceus, his chest was hurting again just like at the ball. Breathe...just breathe... it's ok..."She's... not... Arietta... is she?" Koray managed to ask, his voice shaking as he stared down at the knife still in his hand. It was only after realizing that his knuckles were white that he let the knife go and pushed the cutting board away. Handling a knife in his current state of mind wasn't a good idea.
Another breath would be taken before Rowan materialized next to Koray, letting out a concerned sound. The Phantump had always liked helping out in the restaurant so this didn't come as a surprise to Koray. In fact, he was grateful for the Phantump's company. If this was that Gabe... what did that mean? He acted nothing like what Ara described but... that wasn't a surprise given how often she lied to him. The world spun and it was all Koray could do to lean against the countertop, closing his eyes to shut out the world. Breathe, Koray... just breathe... The stuffy kitchen wasn't the best place to have a panic attack but at least he didn't quite feel like he was dying this time.
“….” The hand on Koray’s shoulder tightened. “Arietta…. Ostinato,” Gabe stated. It wasn’t a question. His mind would not allow questions passed his lips. Why do you know her? Who are you to her? Why are you freaking out like this? Gabe already had one answer: one guess, rather. That if Ara was still doing this to people, Koray was just another one of… those people done wrong.
Gabe pulled Koray off the counter and turned him around slowly (and away from those knives). “Hey, hey Koray, breathe. She’s not here right now. Breathe. Whatever she did, she’s not here right now to do it again.”
The hand on his shoulder tightened and Koray could hardly wrap his mind around the name that was uttered thereafter. Eyes closed as he tried to breathe, tried to calm down. The fact that they had Ara in common now was the source of the rising panic. Koray tried to speak but only managed a strangled sort of sound, shaking as he put a hand to his head. It... hurt and yet... what Ara had told him of Gabe... didn't match up with what he'd been told.
Koray could feel Gabe move him and tried to focus on anything else aside from the screaming inside his mind. It would be Gabe's voice that pulled him from the panic that threatened to take over. Several deep breaths would be taken before Koray felt it was safe enough to open his eyes again. She's not here now. That was true enough, but Gabe didn't know that Ara was still very much a part of his life. Still tormenting him. Whether it was unknowingly or not mattered very little. But I let her in...
A few shaky breaths would be taken before Koray managed to reign in the panic, giving a self-deprecating half laugh, "R-right... she's not..." he managed to agree as Rowan settled on his shoulder, calming him a little further. "Sorry... just..." Another breath. "Small world..." He... really didn't want to reveal too much in case there was a slight chance Gabe really was as bad as Ara said he was. That was unlikely but... Arceus, what were the chances that his friend was also Ara's Gabe. Maybe he should've seen it sooner but Koray hadn't wanted to pass judgement on Gabe in case he really was someone else.
A slow breath drew in and out of Gabe. He didn’t want to be quelling panic attacks or whatever this was right then, but at least it seemed Koray was calming some without too much prompting. That answers that, though… This was someone who knew who he was to some degree or another and knew who Ara was to a deeper degree than another.
A small snort escaped from Gabe at the comment after. “Very,” he agreed. Slowly, his hands dropped from Koray’s shoulders down his arms to his hands holding them there. “Seems like she’s… done a lot of damage again.” Gabe’s voice had a monotone quality to it, almost sort of impartial somehow. His lips pressed together in a fine line. “But she’s not here right now.” he repeated again. “So just relax.”
The fact that Gabe was able to laugh at Koray's attempt at a joke was more of a relief. He was still shaken, but then again that was to be expected. According to Ara, Gabe was mortal enemy number 1. And yet... nothing about what Ara said rang true, not from what Koray was seeing. At Gabe's next statement, Koray had to bite back a sob that threatened to come. He... didn't want to face those feelings, not right then. "You... could say that..." Koray murmured, not wanting to reveal too much. If Gabe knew that he was still on good terms with Ara and still had her in his life... things might not go so well for him.
Still, Gabe was right about one thing. Ara had caused a lot of damage. Koray could feel it every time he walked away from her. It was like Ara was chipping away at him, using him without giving anything in return. No strings attached, huh... What a fool he'd been. Hazel eyes flicked to golden ones as another deep breath was taken. "Right... I'm ok..." Koray murmured softly. Not really... but he had to be. There wasn't really a choice right then and there.
Looking over at the pot of Apricorns, Koray sighed and gave a small smile, "I should check on those..." murmured softly. There was no sense in letting food go to waste.
You could say that… Yeah, Gabe thought as much. “Ara can be… a very vicious person,” Gabe answered. It was almost funny how confidently he could say that now— and more importantly not say anything right after. As Koray looked up at him, Gabe half-smiled back. Seemed he was at least kind of ok now. Kind of. At least he wasn’t going to drop into a full on shaking and crying episode or whatever Gabe had been imagining this could turn into.
As Koray brought attention to the Apricorns again, Gabe gave a small hum. “How about we check on them together, yeah?” At least until he was sure he was stable again. Because burning yourself was the easy route. He stood, shifted over, and looked at the boiling water filled with Apricorns now. “Does it say how much time it needs to boil?” he asked looking around for that cook book again.
Words: 274 | Tag:Gabe Alim | Notes: Requesting =2 cooking skill increase for background cooking (250+ words or so)
Taking a deep breath, Koray nodded at Gabe's words. That was... very true. The last time he'd been with Ara, she'd said some pretty nasty things about Gabe after all. I wonder if she's said any nasty things about me lately. At this point, Koray wouldn't put it past her. There had to be a reason why she broke up with it him the first time. In fact, he knew exactly why she had... and it wasn't the reason her blog stated in the slightest. How many times has she bad mouthed me? Probably too many times to count.
Pushing the thoughts away, Koray refocused on the dishes they were making. It was easier to busy himself than even attempt to talk about Ara right then and there. He was just grateful that Gabe wasn't at all like Ara said he was. At the suggestion to check the Apricorns together, Koray nodded and stood fully, pulling the recipe book out again. He'd bookmarked the specific page thankfully and flipped to it, scanning the instructions before shaking his head. "Not specifically... but they're apparently supposed to look 'shiny'... whatever that means," Koray explained, shrugging a little, "Guess it's not an exact science. Of course given it's an old recipe, it's not surprising that a few of the details got lost over the years..."
A pair of tongs would be handed to Gabe thereafter, "Care to do the honors~?" Koray asked with a smile. It would be easier to see if the Apricorns were done if they were out of the water after all.
Hmmm, not specifically. Well that wasn’t too helpful, but if it was an old recipe then who knew? “Heh, I guess old chefs just knew that feeling in their soul,” he chuckled more to himself than with Koray. As the tongs were produced, Gabe took them and linked them together a few times. “Sure…” As if it needed to be said when he’d already taken it, but whatever. Dipping the tongs down and fishing up one of the Apricorns, Gabe stopped short on seeing how it had… changed.
The once beautifully red Apricorn had turned a paler orange and brown color. “Shoot it didn’t get overcooked did it?” Gabe winced a little. Weirdly, though, it didn’t smell burnt so…. so maybe this was just what happened to them as they were in transition into whatever they were becoming next? Clenching the tongs a little, Gabe frowned. “They seem soft though, somehow…” Not solid like burnt would be… but more mailable?
Koray chuckled a little at Gabe's words and nodded, smirking a bit before Gabe took one of the Apricorns out. The color change was... a little alarming to say the least of things but maybe it was the nature of the type of Apricorn? "I... don't think so? Maybe it changes depending on the type of pokeball it's supposed to turn in to..." Flipping through the cookbook a few showed a chart with the Apricorns and what kind of pokeballs it would become. "According to this, it's supposed to turn into a Level Ball? Couldn't tell you what it does but the color matches." A peak into the pot showed that most of the others had changed colors as well.
"Yeah... maybe they're done now? It looks like we need to carve them next..." Koray murmured, pulling out one of the colanders. It would be easier than pulling out each of the Apricorns at this point. Lifting the pot off the burner, he moved to the nearest sink and dumped the water into the colander he'd placed in it, being careful not to splash water everywhere. The Apricorns rolled into the colander each a different color than they were put in originally. They could wait to try and carve them until after they'd cooled enough.
"Right... I think those are done for now. We can start on finishing the pasta now or shall we finish the salad first?" There were quite a lot of fresh vegetables out on the countertops right then. Of course they could put the ingredients away and start rolling out the dough. Mmmm... either way would work.
A level ball…. Gabe blinked and shook his head a bit. He’d heard of those somewhere but couldn’t remember where, exactly. For now, he’d dip that one back into the pot and retrieve another to check on it. That one too was brown and orange like the first, so maybe this was just how they were made. “Neat…” he mumbled more to himself than to Koray.
Turning down the temperature on the stove as Koray mentioned them probably being done, Gabe nodded a bit. What was the next— Wait what carve them??? He stepped sideways to allow Koray to lift the pot and dump the water out and catch the Apricorns in the colander. Gabe watched for a moment in silence until he was jarred back to attention by Koray. “Hm, we could probably chop the salads and put them in the fridge and then grab the dough?” he ask-suggested. Koray was the chef here, not him, but with everything already out, it seemed easy enough to take care of it and put it away rather than put it away and then have to pull it out to take care of it.
Walking back to the vegetables he’d already been cutting, Gabe started chopping them again. “…So I see what got you into cooking,” he commented a bit jokingly wondering just where Koray’s dad had puttered off to. “What else did you do growing up or do you do right now?’ That was a pretty open ended question, wasn’t it?
Koray smiled when Gabe seemed to think the Apricorns were neat. Considering this was his first time working with them, Koray couldn't be sure if they needed to carve the Apricorns or not but he'd double check the recipe book later to make sure he hadn't read it wrong. While he could do a lot of things, carving in such a specialized manner was well out of his comfort zone. The conversation shifted back to what to do next and Koray pushed this thought aside for the time being.
A nod would be given at Gabe's suggestion. He would've done the same thing but given that they were working with his food Koray wanted to give him the option. "Works for me~," Koray mused, moving to resume chopping the vegetables thereafter. I have to remember to set aside some of the berries... mmm, maybe some feta cheese would work with this as well. It was worth a shot at any rate, especially with the variety of savory berries Gabe had brought with him.
As Koray started to chop again, he couldn't help but laugh a little at Gabe's comment about how he got into cooking. Dad was probably talking to customers or making sure the chefs stayed on track even if it was a little slow at the moment. He generally liked to talk to the customers right now so Koray doubted he would see him for a while at least. The next question however had Koray falling silent, choosing instead to focus on finishing chopping the lettuce. Into the bowl those went and he would go onto chopping the cucumbers, trying to figure out exactly how to answer that question.
"Dance," Koray finally answered, opting to be vague for right then, "It's still one of the few things that... makes me feel like flying. Like the world's not on my shoulders," he continued, his voice probably sounding a little dreamy right then. Notably, he hadn't mentioned anything about when he was younger. He wasn't going to open that can of worms just yet.
Koray’s silence might have said more than any words could have. Gabe bit the inside of his mouth but wouldn’t say anything further. He’d wait and see what Koray wanted to do with his questions first. Instead, for now, he chopped up all the vegetables and put them into a side bowl that had been placed out for him. He was sure there were mixing tongs somewhere, but that could wait until everything was cut up and ready. Carrots, celery, he guessed these were maybe onions that he didn’t recognize, some of the berries he’d brought. Yes.
As Koray finally spoke, though, Gabe felt a sharp pain… go through his finger. He’d nicked it. Fucking, fuck, fuck— Quickly setting the knife down and shoving his cut finger into his mouth, Gabe hummed a little in response. Tasted like pain. Dance… He wondered if Ara had gotten him into it or not. Could just be her type these days…. Probably, yeah, that sounded right. All the idols danced too, after all.
As he continued to chop, Koray thought that his answer regarding dance was harmless enough. It didn't touch on any of the more painful memories after all and gave just enough information to be passable regarding what he did right now for fun. Besides cooking and dance, Koray really didn't have many other hobbies. I should probably try and change that. A thought for another time perhaps.
Hearing the clatter of a knife had Koray turning to see Gabe with a finger in his mouth. Did he cut it? It was a common enough accident to happen in the kitchens after all. A First Aid kit would be brought out before Koray approached Gabe, holding out his hand to see the injury. "Accidents happen, may I see?" Koray assured, giving Gabe a light smile. Assuming Gabe did, Koray would apply antibacterial ointment to the room before placing a bandage over it and a glove fingertip on top of that.
"That should do it, " Koray stated, smiling at Gabe, "Did any blood get on the cutting board or the food? Your station should probably be sanitized before you continue, just to be safe. I'll put what you've cut in the bowl if you're sure it's ok."
The sting of his finger had Gabe making a stupid face even as he hummed. He shot Koray a glance, and it seemed the latter had already caught on and was bringing a medical kit. Accidents, yeah. Gabe hesitated but slowly held out his hand to Koray thereafter. As it was bandaged and protected, Gabe then shook out his hand. “Yeash those knives are sharp….” he swore softly. “I barely even touched it.”
Gabe eyes flicked to the cutting board as Koray mentioned it, and he didn’t see any blood but— oh actually it was on the knife. Gabe winced. “I’ll take the board and the knife to the sink,” he answered waiting a moment as Koray funneled what he’d been chopping into a bowl and then taking both. He was careful now to wash the knife and then the board with soap and hot water. Looking over his shoulder only after they’d been set down in the basin, he then called. “Anything else I need to do?”
At Gabe's comment about the knives, Koray gave a soft laugh, "Well, you can't do much with a dull blade," he replied with a smile before directing him as to what to do. Even if they were cooking for just them, it was better to be safe than sorry. It didn't take long to finish chopping the ingredients for the salad and maybe add some fresh berries at the very end. Mmm, maybe they should use some to make a salad dressing too, that would be fun.
While Gabe was cleaning the knife and board, Koray set about putting the salad ingredients aside for now and pulling the pasta dough back out of the fridge. "I think we're set for now. We can add the berries later so they don't get squashed while mixing the ingredients. For now though, let's roll out the pasta dough. There are a couple of rolling pins in the drawer next to you. I'll grab the flour, we'll need enough to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the table or the rolling pin."
With that said, Koray cleared off a decent amount of space on the bench for both of them and sprinkled flour on it. That would do for now. The dough would be divided into two before Koray set about showing how to roll it out. "The key is to roll it into a long square. You want it thin enough that you can see your hand through it, but strong enough so that it doesn't tear."
Gabe shifted a little grabbing the rolling pins and setting them on the counter as Koray directed. As he watched Koray move and explain what they needed to do next, though, he couldn’t help but think back to what had been said previous.
Arceus damn it…. Gabe shifted a little taking a rolling pin and starting to press the dough flat leaning into it a little more with every second. Of course she’d pick a dancer or want someone who was a dancer. Of course she wanted someone who could do that sort of thing… Maybe she had been indoctrinating him into idolship even— nah they were all female weren’t they? Whatever….
Wow… the dough was very very thin now, probably too thin actually. Gabe bit the inside of his mouth. “Should I reroll into a ball and try again?” he asked looking sideways at Koray and then making a gesture with the rolling pin.
Koray was glad to have the dough to focus on again. It meant he was able to use his strength to bend the dough to his will. Or flatten it in this case. Thoughts spun out of control as he wondered just what Ara had done to Gabe. Sure, he'd mentioned some of it but... It had become more than an elephant in the room right then and there. Perhaps it was only because he'd worked with pasta dough so much that he didn't accidentally make it too thin.
It was only after Gabe spoke up that he paid attention once more. Oh, right. Mmm, it was pretty thin but there wasn't any need to roll it back into a ball at this stage. "No... we can work with this. Watch, the next step is actually to fold it so we can make strips out of it," Koray hummed, going back to his dough to show how it was supposed to be folded.
"I was dancing long before I met Ara, you know. It was actually back when I lived in Johto... As a... foster kid... there wasn't much I was able to do outside of school. Dancing... it was one of the few things they permitted that would allow me to escape them," Koray said carefully, slowly, his hands shaking slightly at even the mention of his past. There were far more skeletons in his closet than he cared to dredge up. As far as he was concerned, this was enough.
Clearing his throat, Koray moved to grab a couple chef knives again, handing one to Gabe thereafter, "The next step requires a knife again, we cut it into strips from the short end and then when you unfold it, you have the noodles." Simple enough. All that was left was the salmon and perhaps a berry reduction. There would need to be sauce for the pasta too...
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