vatheon | (no subject)

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Who: Zelos and Mrs. Brisby
When: backdated February 14th, around 7
Where: Some super fancy restaurant
Style: Whatever
Status: Closed

Valentines Day was usually a busy time for someone like Zelos, but this year, here in Vatheon, he's had some downtime. Chocolates for everyone in the morning, lunch with Tsubaki, and dinner with Brisby. It's refreshing, honestly. He rarely got any time to himself at home, but here he'd taken the time between lunch and dinner to make Mrs. Brisby a mouse-size corsage. Instead of using those talented fingers of his for that which they're usually employed on Valentines, he'd folded tiny roses from what was left of his colored stationary, and while Zelos had given many a gift in his time, he's strangely nervous as to Brisby's reaction to this one. Almost shy, if you can believe it.

There's just something about Mrs. Brisby that makes Zelos want to win her approval, want to make her proud, and it's not a feeling he's felt since he was a child.

He sits in the waiting area of the restaurant, in his pressed tuxedo and neatly braided hair, turning the tiny bunch of flowers over and over in his fingers when Mrs. Brisby arrives.

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"I never thought I'd see a city, myself... I'd heard of them from Johnathan, but they always sounded like such a filthy place," she laughs a bit, looking rather nostalgic. "But this place is a lot cleaner than I expected. And... well, it's just so inconceivably large! I know it probably feels like a cage for a lot of people, but this place is just entirely too big for me to wrap my head around, sometimes."

Johnathan? Must be her late husband.

"Some cities are pretty polluted, but yeah, this one seems fairly well kept." He grins at her admonition of the size. "It does feel pretty entrapping to us large folk sometimes, so I'd count yourself as one of the lucky ones, Brisby-hunny. I'm surprised, though. There's no mouse cities or anything where you come from?"

"Well, no, not really. The rats were the ones who had larger colonies. I lived on a farmer's field, with just my children," she explained, thinking about the rats of N.I.M.H. a bit. "I hear about mice making buildings and doing these grand things in stories, but we've never done anything like that. At least, not where I'm from. I'm actually quite privileged to know about electricity and how to read."

"Huh. And here I was picturing a mouse kingdom with a little mouse queen and cheese shops on every corner." He laughs a bit. "Shows how much I know!"

Zelos sips his water and finishes his bread as he attempts to figure out what to say next. He's never felt so off balance before on a date! Though, in his defense, he's never been on a date with a mouse before either. He's not sure what mice even like to talk about...

"I read a children's story about something like that! Life would certainly be much easier. I think the rats are going to try and set something like that up."

Mrs. Brisby, fortunately, is quite good at socializing. Noticing Zelos' unease, she decides to lead the next part of the conversation. "Tell me about yourself! Do you have any family?"

"So the rats are like your leaders?" He blinks, wondering just how similar rodent society on Brisby's world is to what he's familiar with.

He's grateful for his companion's slide into leading the conversation. Usually he's quite good at this, turning a phrase, but platonic interaction is uncharted territory. Granted she did just ask about his family which is a perilous topic, but somehow... he doesn't mind with Brisby. At least, he doesn't mind talking about his sister. Parents are a whole different can of worms.

"I have a younger half-sister. She's pretty frail, actually, but our butler takes good care of her now that she's home." His smile turns soft. "She's spunky, regardless. Keeps me on my toes."

"No, no, of course not," she laughs, thinking of Auntie Shrew who was ever-suspicious of the rats. "We simply take care of our own families and don't worry about anyone else."

She leans on the table, smiling and listening politely to Zelos. She nods, beaming at the mention of a sister. "Good! Women in the family do a man good, I always thought. That must be why you're so charming - you probably know precisely what not to say."

Zelos just has to chuckle at that one, just barely keeping the sardonic edge out of his voice. "We didn't actually grow up together. She-" How to put it... "moved away when we were still kids."

That's really all he wants to say on the matter. Seles' mother murdering his was definitely on the 'what not to say' list. "What about you? You said you had kids?"

"Oh, yes. I have four of them! Two boys, and two girls. Their names are Martin, Theresa, Timothy, and Cynthia," she says, very excited to talk about them. "Martin is in that rebellious age... you know, where he thinks he's big enough to take on the world. Theresa is a good girl, and very helpful. Cynthia and Timothy are still fairly young... they've got a ways to go to really discover who they are."

"They sound pretty adorable! Must be a handful though, handling four youngsters all by yourself." Brisby is obviously a loving parent. It's how it should be, though maybe not ideal that she'd have to go it alone, but a mother who loves her children and is proud of them is a wonderful thing.

If he were being honest with himself, he'd be a little jealous, but Zelos doesn't make a habit of self-honesty. It causes wrinkles.

"Oh, it can be. If you find a lady you'd like to settle down with, make sure you try and space them out," she says, a little slyly. "Especially if she's the one home most of the day."

Usually if a woman ever made some kind of comment regarding children Zelos would turn it into a joke then probably never call her again if he could afford to. Brisby, though... he can't turn it into a flirtatious exchange with someone like her and it leaves him looking a little taken aback and blank while he thinks of a response.

It's not that he doesn't like kids, he just can't picture himself with them, regardless of what church mandates he went out of his way to avoid. As a male Chosen during a time of prosperity, it was supposed to be his job to sire a gaggle of youngsters in the hopes of creating the next Chosen of Mana to take her journey when Tethe'alla went into decline. The very idea sickens Zelos, especially now in light of the entire system being a sham, but he'd hated it even before he knew. With a philanderous absentee father and a loveless depressed mother, it's no wonder Zelos has no ambitions for paternity.

Wilders just weren't cut out to be parents.

He knew if he said that it would beg more questions though, so he settled on something more innocuous, ever hiding his discomfort with a wide grin. "I'll keep that in mind. Do your children talk too? Forgive me, but I can't say I've ever met a Mouse who spoke the same language as I do. I guess it could be part of Vatheon's set up, though."

Well, that was a pretty strange pause. She keeps it in mind for later prying, but for now she tucks it away to memory, continuing the conversation to be polite.

"Yes! Most animals speak, where I'm from. It's reading and writing that's quite rare," she explains, "but Johnathan was a very smart man. He taught me quite a bit, and the children really take after him. Sometimes, it's like I'm seeing him in them all over again. They're so undoubtably his, really."

Before Zelos is thinking, the question is out of his mouth. "And that doesn't bother you, seeing that and knowing he's gone?"

The Chosen leans back and shakes his head. "Sorry, ahh... that's probably a little morbid of a subject, right? We can talk about something else if you want."

Mrs. Brisby shakes her head, smiling. It's a very sad, but very comfortable smile. "He's dead, Zelos. He's not coming back. I'll miss him, until the day I die, but when I see the children we had together... I remember all of the things I loved about him," she stops for a bit, to think, that smile getting just a tiny bit wider. "It hurts, sometimes. I wish he wasn't gone. But he didn't abandon us. He died doing something to make us safe."

Spinning his water glass between his hands, Zelos smiles a bit at Brisby's words. "A hero, huh? You and the kids must be very proud."

He puts his hand palm down on the table gently, somewhat near Brisby's own small seat, in a gesture of comfort.

"I didn't know until very recently. For them, he's... he's just their father, and they love him. And even before I knew, he was still my husband. I couldn't stop to mourn the loss of him... I had to make sure my children grew up, happy and healthy."

And that had been an adventure all its own.

"Your kids are lucky, Mrs. Brisby. They've got a pretty wonderful mother in you."

He smiles again, but is interrupted by the waiter coming to bring their food. The soup smells good, warm and wholesome, and Zelos waits for Brisby to begin eating before even picking up his spoon.

She recognizes the gesture, taking the first spoonful and blowing it cool before tasting it.

"...This is wonderful! Ah, much better than my cooking."

"Glad you like it! I picked this place for its vegetable dishes." He takes a spoonful himself. It is pretty good, he's got to admit, even if he doesn't have much of an appetite right now. Talking about kids and thinking about parents isn't really something Zelos enjoys generally.

"I'm sure your cooking is fantastic too~"

"Oh, not really. My cooking is quite bland, since I only cook to be filling," she chuckles. "This has all kinds of strange herbs and spices, and what a heavenly smell..."

"Most of the spices aren't to hard to get. Rosemary goes a long way towards bring out flavors. Nothing wrong with eating for pleasure!" Especially considering that's the only reason he eats these days. The crystal sustains him, so food is nothing more that a luxury.

"It's just a matter of finding the right supplies, I suppose," she affirms, nodding thoughtfully. "It was never very easy to find these good herbs and spices... Mrs. Fitzgibbons was always tending her garden, and often put very foul spray on it."

"Bleh, I never put sprays on my garden. I especially wouldn't if I grew food, though it was just roses when I left." He savors some of the soup as he pauses to think. "I might start growing edible plants when I get back, though, provided I remember all this cooking I've picked up here."

"I do hope I can remember what I've experienced here... it'd be quite sad if I didn't," she commented, somewhat from left field. "But then again, I wouldn't remember, would I...?"

"Might as well just enjoy the time here for now, right?" He winked and raises his glass in a toast. "There's good people and things to discover, despite the curses. I have to say I'm sort of settling in despite myself."

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