b u o n e ~ f e s t e

[sharktrash]

Who: Priders! (Basically if you (or your friend, or your dog) has had a positive interaction with anyone from MANTICORE, consider yourself invited, dragged along or sent in someone else's place. And even if you haven't been invited it's totally fine to notice something's going on and show up or  randomly come across this and stay!)
What: Genos and Squalo throw a Solstice dinner party. Italian food for everyone!
When: December 21?ish (forward-dated a bit so it doesn't fall right before irl holidays)
Where: MANTICORE penthouse
Warnings: MANTICORE Squalo, Carnies, language, minors getting drunk, substance abuse, someone might decide to bone, idk.


[ Fuck the creepy shit, MANTICORE are aggressively throwing a Solstice party! Because why not, and who has the patience to wait until New Years? ]

[ There are locations/prompts in toplevels, but feel free to start your own as well. Generic timeline of the night would be: cooking, dinner, socializing with games and booze and possibly other things, and  a movie marathon into the wee hours of the morning for the ones interested.  ]

Comments

Xanxus

[variaboss]

[ It'd the smells that'll catch you first. They waft through the entire building like some asshole put pasta by a air duct and turned a fan on or something. It's heady and savory.

In the kitchen, Xanxus stands, wrapped in an apron, before a bubbling pot of something and for a moment, he's five again. He's five and there's a little old Italian lady in her ramshackle place bustling around the kitchen. His ear still smarts from where she had pulled it, dragging him away from where he had been pick-pocketing. Telling him how his mother would be so disappointed in him and that if he's going to learn a skill, it's going to be a useful one. Now stop scowling at me young man and get over here. These tomatoes won't stir themselves.

He shakes off the feeling of accomplishment the first time he made something delicious with his own two small hands, Granny Fonza, Saint of the Squatters, looking on with pride.

He puts a pinch of spice into the sauce and hums to himself. Some low rumbling opera aria no doubt. Was this his sauce to begin with? Probably not. Too bad, shouldn't have stepped away from it because he's fixing it now.

He doesn't even look from where he's working, getting a small tasting spoon full of it. ]

Oi. You. Taste this shit.

[sharktrash]

[ And was it Squalo's sauce? Probably not, because his would've been flawless and needing no fixing. There's a whole bunch of people 'helping' them now, maybe one of them decided to get creative with sauces. ]

[ It's still his kitchen, though, and he prefers knowing who comes in and comes out. It'd be way too fucking easy to poison everyone here -- ah. What a funny thought. Either way, this asshole managed to evade him long enough not to only slip in, but to get an apron and start cooking. Fucking hell he's slipping isn't he. ]

Vooooii! Who the fuck let your dick in here? [ Without even thinking on it, he delivers it all in perfect Italian. He doesn't look that mad and makes no motion to throw him out or anything, but he does seem vaguely irked about someone else taking the reigns. Even if it's just a sauce. ]

[variaboss]

[ Well, whoever's it was, it sucked and he was fixing that shit. If they're doing this, they need to do it right. Fonza would never forgive if the sauce tasted like shit.

His humm cuts off at the very loud very Italian yelling. He raises an eyebrow because he actually understands that shit now. Not just understands it, but is native fluent. ]

I let my dick in here, and you should be fucking grateful. You should have tasted this shit before I got to it. It wasn't even suitable for fucking dogs.

[ And he looks so at home here, fixing it and he wants to do more than just the sauce. ]

[sharktrash]

[ Fair enough. Fonza hasn't spent years cooking for someone who killed people for bad meals, though, she ain't got shit on him. ]

[ Ah, wait. He didn't either, right? ]

Good thing there are no other dogs here then. [ He huffs, but seems to ease up a bit, and leans forward to sniff that spoon he's holding out. He might regret this gesture of trust, but oh well. ]

[variaboss]

[ This is very true. And Squalo is damn lucky he doesn't just shove the spoon right into his mouth. The urge is there, right with smashing a pot of boiling pasta on his head. Wierd. Where did that come from? Anyway, he knows it smells great now, but proof is in the taste. ]

Jesus Christ, just try it, scum. I don't fuck with food. That shit's an unforgivable sin.

[sharktrash]

[ It registers as vaguely surprising that Xanxus seems fluent in Italian now -- hadn't he asked to translate the simplest swearword when they first met? But somehow, his mind doesn't linger on it too much. ]

Heeey, don't call the Lord's name for no reason. [ He's grinning, though. He's not exactly religious in any timeline or form, but faith does have kind of a... presence in Italy, and various sayings and superstitions have outlived the beliefs themselves. ] Fine, let me see...

[ Shit, this is weird. He'll loosely grip Xanxus' hand to steady the spoon, just in case he decides to shove it down his throat or something, and puts it in his mouth. ]

Molto bene. Keep at it.

[variaboss]

[ It just sort of happened. He had been in a fight in a bar and then suddenly he was yelling in tongues and there were cops. It was pretty epic. Of course r the tabloids had gotten it all wrong what happened that day but he wasn't about to correct them. Instead, he's just going to be happily fluent like it's the most natural thing in the world to talk to this asshole in actual Italian. ]

I can say whatever name I fucking want. It's not like it matters. I don't care about the commandments or whatever the fuck.

[ He's still pretty eager to see the reaction and when it's positive, he just smirks like he won the damn lottery. ]

When I'm finished here, I'll see about fixing the rest of this shit. Because you can't expect me to eat any of this crap the way it is

[sharktrash]

[ lbr it probably sounds hot as fuck to anyone who happens to overhear it. ]

There's a lot of shit that doesn't matter. Like manners. You want to upset your grandma?

[ Squalo obviously scowls at that. ]

Have you actually TRIED any of it, you piece of shit? My cooking doesn't need any fixing!

[variaboss]

My grandma could kick your ass! [ He's seems pretty damn sure of that, but he's also pretty sure Fonza wasn't his grandma. That he doesn't know who his granny is, if he even has one. ]

If you made this shitty excuse for goddamn sauce, I beg to fucking differ. But if you think it's so great, let's see. Let's see this amazing cooking of yours. Just don't be surprised that when it's shit I'm kicking you out of this damn kitchen

[ He seems to think he's actually going to be fed by Squalo or something. ]

[sharktrash]

This is MY fucking kitchen. If anyone's getting kicked out, it's you for being a dick.

[ But fine, fine. He wants spoonfeeding? He's getting some. Or, well, not quite. Because Squalo's forking one of those godly pieces of steak right out of the frying pan and shoving it into Xanxus' face. ]

[variaboss]

No way in hell anyone's kicking me out of anywhere. Don't even try it or we'll be adding stupid shark to the menu

[ But his eyes are lit up like he's 12 because that steak looks amazing. So so amazing. He leans in to take it off the fork. And what do you know. It tastes... there's just nothing like it. ]

Holy shit... I could fucking kiss you, this tastes so damn good

[sharktrash]

You wanna fucking go?

[ But, oh. That reaction. That just makes up for everything. Squalo practically beams, a smug smirk on his face. Hell yeah. He almost says 'of course I'd know what you like by now' but that makes no sense since they just recently met, right? So instead he opts for his usual mild harrassment. ]

Maybe later, big guy. I don't defile the space I cook in.

[variaboss]

[ He wants more of that damn steak now. Probably going to ruin his dinner but whatever. It's just too damn good to just have one bite and be satisfied by it. ]

You know I don't mean it like that, you thirsty fuck. How about you just give me the rest of that steak and we'll call it payment for fixing that sauce.

[sharktrash]

[ Yeees. Come for the steak, stay for the shark -- I mean. ]

Fuck off, you're not the only one here! One plate.

[ Since he does like his cooking being appreciated. But he also wants more people to try it, especially Ryuko - and while he's made sure to prepare a lot of it, some still simmering at the moment - that "the rest" sounds a bit ominous. Some people here could eat a lot. ]

[ He can definitely spare a plateful of it, though, which is where he starts shoveling it. For some reason. Why did he listen just now? ]

[variaboss]

[ It takes a lot for him not to smack the back of Squalo's head for mouthing off to him. He's starting to feel those urges more and more. The urge to just lash out when he's pissed or even slightly peeved or even just because he feels like it. But he keeps himself from it, at least this time. Next time though, Squalo probably won't be so lucky. Must be the steak. ]

Then one plate.

[ He'll just pile it on that one plate to make himself a little steak mountain. ]

think we can wrap this

[sharktrash]

[ He'll get a literal slap on the wrist if that mountain gets too high, but other than that Squalo will probably leave him be for the moment. There's more cooking to do, though of course colourful Italian phrases might fly back and forth until it's all done. ]