Open Post: Treat

[sporesprouter]

Now that the latest burst of activity has actually settled into something like calm for a few days, Tress has settled into a temporary project. In fairness, most of the temporary project took place the previous day in the out of the way kitchen that she had previously commandeered small appliances from. But today requires a bit more wandering.

So she is currently in the process of going around various at least semi-frequented common rooms leaving trays of both nut and honey balls and chocolate coconut balls. Next to each room's tray, she sets down a small card that says in careful handwriting, 'It's been a tough week. Help yourself!'

She's not putting a whole lot of fanfare into the process, but she's also not being particularly secretive about it, so she's easy enough to find throughout.

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad is curled up reading in one of them, and he looks up when she comes in.

"Tress."

[sporesprouter]

Tress smiles over at him, setting the tray and card down on an empty table. "Galahad! Hello. What are you reading?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"About time," showing her the cover. "Magnus taught me about minutes."

[sporesprouter]

She looks at it. "Oh, wow. You know, I never really thought enough about time to imagine there would be a book about it, but now that I think about it, it's probably fascinating to read about."

[onthewillowsthere]

A rather fervent nod: it is, but also somewhat overwhelming.

He hesitates a moment, then: "Thank you."

[sporesprouter]

Her eyebrows knit together slightly-- curious, not perturbed. "For what?"

[onthewillowsthere]

The answer is, a lot of things. Too many, almost: he's overwhelmed by the idea of quantification. Being kind when he first arrived, teaching him to bake when he was shaking apart in God's silence. Giving him food when he was Damien, giving him his first taste of something sweet. The piece of orange. I think maybe you need a little bit of time just to be, instead of to do. Those things start to coalesce, and suddenly he understands -- he wishes he had understood before.

Cautiously he says, "You've been my friend. I didn't realize before."

[sporesprouter]

The curiosity slides from her face to be replaced with a soft brightness. "Oh! You're welcome. Of course you're welcome." She'd say he didn't really need to thank her for something as simple as that, but it's clearly not as simple to him and she doesn't want to treat that dismissively.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I want to-- spend more time with you. As friends. I--" His fingers tighten on the book. This shouldn't be so hard. He's asked for so many things, things that felt more dangerous than this.

[ravkanwitch]

Nina’s munching on one of the chocolate coconut balls when she walks in on Tress setting down another tray in a different room. “Tress! Was this you? This was delicious.”

[sporesprouter]

Tress turns at the question and smiles to see its source. "Nina! Yes, it was me. I spent a good amount of yesterday afternoon making them."

[ravkanwitch]

"They're delicious. But that's no surprise considering it's your handiwork," she says, with a little grin. "How ...did you do? With the undead?"

[sporesprouter]

"Oh, thanks. I'm glad you like them." She smiles back. "And I was fine. I just stayed at the front door and stopped any of them who managed to get that far so the ones who could actually destroy them could come when they got a chance."

[ravkanwitch]

“With your spores, right?” Nina’s actually read all of the information on the welcome table. “I saw the vines that were trapping a lot of them. That was great work.”

[sporesprouter]

She nods, smiling. "I modified a flare gun to be able to shoot charges of verdant vines. It's not the first time it's come in handy, so I'm glad I had it available."

[ravkanwitch]

“Impressive! I love how much everyone here came together against the undead,” Nina says, flopping onto one of the nearby couches. “We were all working as a team.”

[sporesprouter]

"You're right. Everyone just kind of fell into their best role, as far as I can tell." She smiles a little. "It could have just turned into chaos, but it didn't."

[az_fell]

Aziraphale, sitting and reading a book¹ in a cozy little lounge, looks up eagerly the moment his finely-honed angelic senses detect the possibility of dessert. "What have you got there, dear girl?"

¹This tableau is almost certainly a fixture of the mansion at this point, as he'll happily sit in one place, unmoving aside from turning pages, to read from page one to the end of any given novel.

[sporesprouter]

"Oh!" She smiles over at Aziraphale. "I made some treats for anyone who wants some after the week we've all had." She then walks up towards him and extends the tray. "There are two kinds."

[az_fell]

Delighted, Aziraphale sits up and immediately pops a nut and honey ball into his mouth. He chews and swallows neatly, then produces a handkerchief from nowhere and dabs at his mouth. "Very good," he says warmly. "Do you know, I missed the truth spell entirely?" He takes a second treat without delay.

[sporesprouter]

Tress looks quite pleased at the compliment towards the snack. "I think it missed me¹, but I did run into some people as it was happening. Once I figured it out, though, I tried to stay away from everyone, just so they wouldn't have to say anything to me that they didn't want to."

¹ See footnote in thread above.

[az_fell]

Aziraphale gives her an approving look, then shifts gears and eats two chocolate coconut balls. "That was very thoughtful of you. I can't say I'm too troubled to have missed it -- it all sounds rather overly confessional. I'm an angel, not a priest."

[sporesprouter]

Tress sets the tray down on an empty table in Aziraphale's reach. "Oh! You're an influencer?"

[az_fell]

Obviously, Aziraphale takes one more treat, then makes the valiant effort to restrain himself as he blinks politely at Tress. "A what?"

[sporesprouter]

She tries to think back to what Crowley said on his arrival. "Angels are... influencers? But to influence boring things like meal plans?" She hastens to reassure him, though. "There are times meal plans are kind of important, though, so I don't know if they're really all that boring, necessarily."