Sooraya and Rictor
Mar. 6th, 2025 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsSooraya asks Rictor to train with her.
"Hey Rictor..." Sooraya looked up from the onions and garlic she was dicing finely, various vegetables spread out around her cutting board. "Long day?"
"Is it obvious?" An early morning at Hordeculture followed by a couple hours with Clea in their greenhouse, and Rictor was ready to call it. (By which he meant he would call Star and Liam to a friendly match of that new superhuman shoot-em-up video game everyone was playing.) But he was famished and needed some protein for energy first. And now he was distracted from digitally trouncing his friends by the spread Sooraya was preparing. "Do you need help with anything?"
"The dirt still beneath your nails and the sprig of green still stuck in your hair kinda give it away." Sooraya grinned at him before returning to her chopping. "And I am mostly just dicing stuff up that is about to go off. It's cold enough that a good bowl of hearty vegetable soup will go down well for most people. I think there is still some curry in the fridge for the taking if you're hungry?"
The mention of curry sent Rictor scrambling for the communal fridge, from which he emerged with a large sealed container of leftovers. He carefully spooned some into a bowl.
"That's a lot of soup to make," he observed as he waited for the microwave to heat his meal. "What kind of vegetable soup?"
"Honestly, whatever was laying around in the fridges. Especially whatever bits might be around. Used carrot, onion, celery and garlic for the base of course, but otherwise it's a free for all." Sooraya surveyed the stuff in front of her. "So we at least have some kind of root vegetable, some broccoli and cauliflower stumps, a little bit of cabbage..."
"Are you just throwing everything into the pot and hoping for the best?" Rictor asked, belatedly realizing how derisive that sounded, so he hastily followed with: "I don't know how to cook at all without a recipe. I would probably make toxic waste and Kyle would have to oversee another remodeling of the kitchen."
"It's a bit of an art." Sooraya gave him a quick smile. "But most flavors come together pretty well. Herbs and spices will do the rest." Lighting a fire under a large pot, she quickly dropped in a measure of butter. "This is called a mirepoix. Many cuisines use a variation of this as a flavor base." She explained, before adding: "And how are things going at the nursery?"
"Clea and I have been talking about designing a water garden. There are varieties of lilies and lotuses we could grow that have useful spiritual properties. One of Amanda's books I read has a draught for making you stronger for a moment, like a pre-workout. But it needs a marigold we can't grow here. Yet."
"I know very little about the spiritual properties of plants, but the idea of a water garden sounds beautiful." Sooraya smiled, trying to picture it in her mind. "How are you and Clea imagining it to look like?" She finished dicing the last of the carrots and dropped them in the pot, everything sizzling immediately.
"We have not discussed that yet." Rictor finished his last spoonful of curry and, after a quick mental debate, returned to the fridge for a second helping. "I suppose it will depend on what budget we can beg from Kyle. But look at this place, we could rebuild the Amazon here if we wanted to."
"Wait, the Amazon river?" Sooraya's head shot up, eyes wide, from where she was stirring the vegetables around. "That's a big undertaking... I think that's all I can say. Looks like you're gonna be busy with that for a while though?" She added a curious note to her voice.
Rictor shrugged. "I mean, this is a big place. There is a lot of room to build our own rainforest and river if we wanted. Whatever we do, it will probably take a lot of time. But I don't think we will start for a while. There's a lot to do to prepare before we can actually build."
"I bet." Sooraya tried to imagine it and shook her head when it wouldn't quite come together. "So what else have you been working on? How is control with your powers going?"
Second round of curry rapidly devoured and hunger satiated, Rictor took his bowl and spoon to the sink to wash. Let no one accuse him of slobbery even if leaves and grass adorned his shaggy hair.
"Everything is going well. I have finally figured out the trick that Shatterstar and I did last January when that weird French guy attacked New York City. I can do it on my own now." Though without the rush of vigor and excitement that came from sharing Star's power.
"Nice!" Sooraya gathered the next set of vegetables and set about chopping them before casually adding: "And how are you doing with finer control? I think I heard Alani mention something about that."
He shrugged. "Better, I guess. I can almost control the direction of my shockwaves but they're waves, so. They just kind of . . ." He threw out his arms to the sides. ". . . Go out in all directions on their own. But I am also improving on controlling the intensity of my quakes."
"Last one sounds like a really good one." Sooraya paused in her chopping for a moment. "Can I ask, how do you feel about training with someone else with your powers where control of the intensity is kinda important?"
Ah, now all these leading questions were starting to make sense. Someone needed his expertise and abilities? He visibly perked up and then tried to be casual about it by leaning against the countertop near Sooraya. "How can I help?"
Finally Sooraya put down her knife and looked up: "I faced someone with your powerset in combat quite a while ago and it had bad consequences." Translate: it nearly got her killed. "I've been working on tactics, but I want to start experimenting more."
He did not have to be an X-warrior himself to understand that translation. "Okay. By tactics, I assume you mean self-defense? Ways to overcome my gift?"
"At least enough tactics to protect myself." Sooraya quickly corrected. "Possibly to overcome your type of powers. But for now it's enough that I can become more confident in avoiding harm to myself."
Never one to turn someone down when they needed him, Rictor did not hesitate to agree to assist Sooraya's mission. "I am happy to help," he said without further consideration. "When do you want to start?"
"Hey Rictor..." Sooraya looked up from the onions and garlic she was dicing finely, various vegetables spread out around her cutting board. "Long day?"
"Is it obvious?" An early morning at Hordeculture followed by a couple hours with Clea in their greenhouse, and Rictor was ready to call it. (By which he meant he would call Star and Liam to a friendly match of that new superhuman shoot-em-up video game everyone was playing.) But he was famished and needed some protein for energy first. And now he was distracted from digitally trouncing his friends by the spread Sooraya was preparing. "Do you need help with anything?"
"The dirt still beneath your nails and the sprig of green still stuck in your hair kinda give it away." Sooraya grinned at him before returning to her chopping. "And I am mostly just dicing stuff up that is about to go off. It's cold enough that a good bowl of hearty vegetable soup will go down well for most people. I think there is still some curry in the fridge for the taking if you're hungry?"
The mention of curry sent Rictor scrambling for the communal fridge, from which he emerged with a large sealed container of leftovers. He carefully spooned some into a bowl.
"That's a lot of soup to make," he observed as he waited for the microwave to heat his meal. "What kind of vegetable soup?"
"Honestly, whatever was laying around in the fridges. Especially whatever bits might be around. Used carrot, onion, celery and garlic for the base of course, but otherwise it's a free for all." Sooraya surveyed the stuff in front of her. "So we at least have some kind of root vegetable, some broccoli and cauliflower stumps, a little bit of cabbage..."
"Are you just throwing everything into the pot and hoping for the best?" Rictor asked, belatedly realizing how derisive that sounded, so he hastily followed with: "I don't know how to cook at all without a recipe. I would probably make toxic waste and Kyle would have to oversee another remodeling of the kitchen."
"It's a bit of an art." Sooraya gave him a quick smile. "But most flavors come together pretty well. Herbs and spices will do the rest." Lighting a fire under a large pot, she quickly dropped in a measure of butter. "This is called a mirepoix. Many cuisines use a variation of this as a flavor base." She explained, before adding: "And how are things going at the nursery?"
"Clea and I have been talking about designing a water garden. There are varieties of lilies and lotuses we could grow that have useful spiritual properties. One of Amanda's books I read has a draught for making you stronger for a moment, like a pre-workout. But it needs a marigold we can't grow here. Yet."
"I know very little about the spiritual properties of plants, but the idea of a water garden sounds beautiful." Sooraya smiled, trying to picture it in her mind. "How are you and Clea imagining it to look like?" She finished dicing the last of the carrots and dropped them in the pot, everything sizzling immediately.
"We have not discussed that yet." Rictor finished his last spoonful of curry and, after a quick mental debate, returned to the fridge for a second helping. "I suppose it will depend on what budget we can beg from Kyle. But look at this place, we could rebuild the Amazon here if we wanted to."
"Wait, the Amazon river?" Sooraya's head shot up, eyes wide, from where she was stirring the vegetables around. "That's a big undertaking... I think that's all I can say. Looks like you're gonna be busy with that for a while though?" She added a curious note to her voice.
Rictor shrugged. "I mean, this is a big place. There is a lot of room to build our own rainforest and river if we wanted. Whatever we do, it will probably take a lot of time. But I don't think we will start for a while. There's a lot to do to prepare before we can actually build."
"I bet." Sooraya tried to imagine it and shook her head when it wouldn't quite come together. "So what else have you been working on? How is control with your powers going?"
Second round of curry rapidly devoured and hunger satiated, Rictor took his bowl and spoon to the sink to wash. Let no one accuse him of slobbery even if leaves and grass adorned his shaggy hair.
"Everything is going well. I have finally figured out the trick that Shatterstar and I did last January when that weird French guy attacked New York City. I can do it on my own now." Though without the rush of vigor and excitement that came from sharing Star's power.
"Nice!" Sooraya gathered the next set of vegetables and set about chopping them before casually adding: "And how are you doing with finer control? I think I heard Alani mention something about that."
He shrugged. "Better, I guess. I can almost control the direction of my shockwaves but they're waves, so. They just kind of . . ." He threw out his arms to the sides. ". . . Go out in all directions on their own. But I am also improving on controlling the intensity of my quakes."
"Last one sounds like a really good one." Sooraya paused in her chopping for a moment. "Can I ask, how do you feel about training with someone else with your powers where control of the intensity is kinda important?"
Ah, now all these leading questions were starting to make sense. Someone needed his expertise and abilities? He visibly perked up and then tried to be casual about it by leaning against the countertop near Sooraya. "How can I help?"
Finally Sooraya put down her knife and looked up: "I faced someone with your powerset in combat quite a while ago and it had bad consequences." Translate: it nearly got her killed. "I've been working on tactics, but I want to start experimenting more."
He did not have to be an X-warrior himself to understand that translation. "Okay. By tactics, I assume you mean self-defense? Ways to overcome my gift?"
"At least enough tactics to protect myself." Sooraya quickly corrected. "Possibly to overcome your type of powers. But for now it's enough that I can become more confident in avoiding harm to myself."
Never one to turn someone down when they needed him, Rictor did not hesitate to agree to assist Sooraya's mission. "I am happy to help," he said without further consideration. "When do you want to start?"
