2025-02-18 - Pajean And Soju

It's late Tuesday evening and Artemisia is cooking up some Pajeon (Korean Scallion Pancake) on the stove as she chats with her little brother. The mixture is made, all that's left is frying. And drinking soju. A drink which she poured for Amadeus first, then herself, in a pair of decorative cups that were definitely swiped from their parents' house. They're cream with a blue pattern. "So how are you settling in?" Artemisia wonders over the hiss of the pajeon on the stove. Her blonde curls have been pulled back in a little tail and all the facepaint of work washed away, leaving her wearing a headband with rabbit ears, a pink hoodie, and a pair of black and white side striped track pants. Her pink polkadot slippers just peek out the bottoms. "You're in the aquatic show, right?"

Amadeus has on a pair of black cargo pants and an oversized cream colored sweater whose sleeves are pulled down over his hands as he sits at the table with them folded under his chin, watching Arte cook. His knee bounces a little bit every so often, just a bit of energy left over from the day. He'd applies for a position dancing at the amphitheater, but his magic kicked in pretty much as soon as he arrived and when they'd found out about his ability to shift and breathe underwater, he'd been offered a part in the aquatic show instead, and he'd decided to take it. "Yeah, moved over to the Mermaid Lagoon," he says with a little smile. "As much as I was excited about dancing at the amphitheater, I couldn't pass this up. I'm settling in okay. It's a lot to take in, but it's a new adventure, too."

"So you're a mer..." Artemisia pauses as she considers that. "Is it man? Folk?" What's the many gendered term for mermaids? She pokes at the pajeon as it sizzles. "Can you swim?"

AJ laughs and says, "Merman, I guess. Collectively, merfolk." Then he says, "Wouldn't be a very good merperson if I couldn't swim. I was on the swim team in high school." He was actually a very good swimmer prior to this newfound ability to breathe underwater.

"Oh that's right! I guess I missed the later meets-" Arte says with a tip of her head, being four years ahead of him and then off to New York. "But now you can like..." She makes a gesture with her hands to indicate gills.

"You were at school," AJ laughs. "It's cool." She graduated and had been in New York through most of his high school days and while he certainly did well enough as part of the team, it was something he did secondary to dance. The dance competitions and performing with the company had always come first with him. Though he still loved to swim. Which was fortunate, since that's what he'd be doing now. "Now I can yeah, breathe underwater just fine. It's still super weird, but I'm getting used to it." He pokes one hand out of his sleeve and reaches for his drink, lifting it to take a sip.

"Does it still... taste like lake water?" Artemisia has ask. "Also, I think you ended up with more useful skills than me, little bro." Her mouth crinkles with a smile. Then she quickly turns back to her cooking, ushering one pajean out of the pan to add the next one.

"Why?" he asks. "What'd you get?" He hadn't actually asked her what her own magic skills were, and now he's very clearly curious as he leans in a little bit. "And uh, yeah, I guess? It tastes like aquarium water. I guess if I were in the lake it would taste like lake water."

"Do I want to know what aquarium water tastes like?" Arte teases with bright eyes that warm to pink. It's a little uncanny. She's been dark eyed all their lives. "Empathy. Mirror Walking. And illusions. Look in your cup." If AJ does, he'll see a miniature koi fish swimming around in slow circles at the bottom of he soju.

"Nope," AJ says with a bright smile and then sticks out his tongue making a bit of a 'blech' face. "But I don't really drink it. I just breathe it. So like.. I don't know how it works. Magic." He wiggles his fingers in what looks like jazz hands, or spirit fingers. He stares at her eyes a little when they turn colors and says, "That is so cool. I wonder what I'll get. Or if I won't get anything." He sounds a little disappointed at that prospect. "What's mirror walking?" he asks. "You can walk on mirrors?" He then does look down in his cup and grins. "Hello fishie, fishie."

"Doesn't it like get in your nose?" Artemisia wonders with a tip of her head. She tap-taps the pan with her spatula. "Honestly, little bro. No one knows how it works. It just does. And here." She scoops the Pajean into a plate and then seasons it with scallions and some fixings before bringing it over and setting it in front of him. Taa-daa. "It's like random. And also mirror walking is like teleport, but using mirrors."

"It does," Amadeus says as he looks down into his cup and watches the fish swimming in it. It's a little bit mesmerizing the way they go round and round. Of course, it also makes it so he doesn't exactly want to drink out of the cup at the moment, even if he knows theoretically they aren't real. But then there's pajean on a plate in front of him and he's happy to dig in. He mumbles around a big mouthful, "Sho you teleport frough mirrorsh? Any mirrorsh?"

The little fish flicks it's tail at Amadeus before slowly vanishing after a minute. It looks very real, but there's no impact of water splashing him. "Any mirrors I know and can fit through, yeah. I about gave my friend Kennedy a heart attack the first time I accidentally did it." How does one accidentally mirror walk, Arte? She adds sheepishly after a moment, "I tripped."

Eventually, he gets through that initial mouthful of food and glances around the room for any mirrors before he looks back to her. Then he grins a little bit knowingly. Yep, sounds on brand. "I bet. That'd scare the crap out of me if you fell through my mirror while I was trying to brush my teeth or something." He lifts his drink, sans fish, to take a sip from it and then sets it down again. "Being able to shift into a tail is way better than having to wear one. I tried on one of the costume ones for giggles. It's like trying to squeeze your whole body into a compression sock. With a flipper." So he can totally understand why using shapeshifters for it makes way more sense.

"Noted. Come through the mirror while you're brushing your teeth," Artemisia teases with a big sisterly smile of evil. Then she smells something crisping a little too much and hurries back to small kitchen space. Flip! Flip! "I haven't tried on the tails," she admits. "I'm not the swimmer you are but they are so pretty."

"If I freak out and poke you in the eye with a tooth brush it is your own fault," Amadeus says, wiggling his fork in her direction as though it were a threatening toothbrush, even while grinning back at her. "I also am not responsible for anything you see if you come through my mirror unannounced." Now its his turn for a mischievous smile before he takes another sip of his drink, watching the scramble over to the kitchen. "You should try one on sometime. It's kind of fun to do once. Even if I don't need one."

"Which end of the toothbrush?" Artemisia considers with a bat of her lashes. She is all smiles and then makes an 'ew' face. "I do not need to know about your romantic affairs, thanks." Keep it to yourself. "Try what? The tail? You'd have to show me how. I am only an okay swimmer with limbs."

AJ smirks and says, "The gooey end," then makes a gesture like scrubbing her eyeball with Crest. He's not a monster. He wouldn't stab her with the hard end bit! Then he rolls his eyes. "I just GOT here. I don't have any romantic affairs!" Well he's been here for almost three weeks now. But he's been busy! With working! And magic! And magic working! "Well you can put it on and not swim, just sort of hang out on the edge of the pool with your arms on the edge so you don't have to do any swimming. Makes great pictures, no coordination required."

"Whitened and brightened," Artemisia sing-songs like she's writing one the jingles she used to send him as sound notes, when she was working in New York. "I dunno. You're young. And cute. Maybe the mertank is hot. I don't work there," she teases mercilessly, turning off the stove and plating up her own food before coming to join him. Pajeannnnn. "Okay. I am in for gorgeous mermaid pictures. Sign me up."

He's already halfway through his by the time she even gets to sit down to start. His appetite is a near insatiable thing at times. Amadeus laughs and says, "Almost everybody who works in this place is hot," as he cuts of another oversized bite and pushes it into his mouth, making his cheek puff out like a chipmunk as he chews. "Good. We can do it togever! Maybe early morng. Or affer park closhe." Depending on when they both have shows. They'll figure it out, and find a photographer to rope into it.

"Lord. Isn't that the truth," Artemisia says with a slight sigh. "I swear they half hire on looks, then on talent. Although, I haven't met anybody who isn't talented y'know?" She grins at the thought of their joint mermaid shots. "We are going to have to frame one for Appa. He'd love it."

"What about you? Are you seeing somebody? You've been here longer than me," he asks once he's done chewing. "Or at least flirting with one of the many pretty pretty people that are practically falling out of the trees?" He raises both eyebrows quizzically. Nosy minds want to know. But he's quick to nod in agreement and says, "We can do that. He'll love it." He's always been supportive of their various endeavors and usually loves the photographs that Amadeus would send home from his trips on the road with the dance company.

"Mhm." There's a pause as Artemisia chews her food, taking a sip of soju to clear her throat. "Plenty of flirting. I had a sort of date with someone - but they also won it in a charity auction." She pauses again. "So we'll see with that."

"A sort of date? What is a sort of date? Isn't a charity auction date still a date?" AJ pauses, bite halfway to his mouth. "And I missed it! I mean, I didn't really miss it. I heard about it but I didn't go. I had a couple of rehearsals and a show." And it was pretty early on in his being here. "But I heard about it. Sounds like they made a lot of money for charity. That's cool, right?" Then he pauses and asks, "Are you going to go on another date?"

"Yeah but like, it's for charity. It doesn't mean they're interested. Right?" Artemisia counters with a point of her fork. "Yeah, you were super busy right when you got here." She shrugs, looking down at her food and cutting a piece off. "Dunno."

"If they weren't interested, at least a little bit, they would have just written a check to the charity, right?" AJ asks before finally putting the last bite of his food in his mouth and at least doesn't try to talk around it this time. Small mercies. "You should ask them out," he decides. "Did you have fun at the kinda-date?" One knee bounces a little as he sets his fork down and folds his arms on the table.

"I did. I think... he's a really nice guy," Artemisia says softly, poking at her food as she watches her brother from beneath her lashes.

That smile only grows more broad and more cheshire-cat like. "Then you should definitely ask him out." He takes another sip of his drink then gets up to take his plate and silverware over to the sink. He then tops up his own drink and offers to do the same for her.

"Oh! Thanks." Artemisia smiles at the top off, a slight flush to her cheeks from the alcohol. "I'll... think about it. He's pretty shy. Unlike me."

Amadeus points out, after topping off both of their drinks, "All the more reason you should ask him!"

"You're impossible, you know that," Artemisia teases fondly. "Fine. Fine. I will ask him. But you better be prepared to drink more soju with me when he says no. My roommate ended up leaving the park and now I have this two bedroom to myself."

"Yes," Amadeus says with no shame whatsoever and a big white-toothed smile. "I take my responsibilities as the baby of the family very seriously." Very seriously. He settles back into his chair and leans back in it, lifting his drink to her before taking a sip from it. "And you will drink more soju with me when he says yes." Though the mention of her former roommate has him glancing around and saying. "Oh, that's too bad." Then after only a momentary pause. "I could move in! It'd be just like home!" Which may not be a GOOD thing. Depending on just how much she enjoys being bothered by her little brother.

Artemisia laughs but the sound is warm and delighted. "That wouldn't be too weird, living with your big sister? I mean-" She grins at him. "You'd be welcome. I know my cooking would never be too spicy for you."

"Why would it be weird?" AJ asks. "It's just like having a roommate who knows way more embarrassing stories about you. Plus, then if I bring someone over I can be like, this is my big sister. Don't make her kick your ass, because she'll probably break something." He pauses for dramatic effect. "Probably herself." Menace. He is a menace. "And the cooking part. Definitely the cooking part."

"Just remember that I know all your embarrassing stories," Artemisia teases with a little smile, her dark eyes sparkling with pink glitter-effect. "Brat." She twacks him with a decorative pillow for good measure. He's done eating right. "Speaking of. There's more pajean in the kitchen if you want."

"Yeah, yeah," AJ says with a grin and then takes the smack with the pillow with a faint oof, wobbling in his chair before he gets up to explore the possibility of more pajean in the kitchen. His plate is recovered and he grabs some more wile the getting is good. "Yes, but I'm your brat and you looooove meeee," he sing-songs as he returns with more food. He is rarely one to turn down food. He burns a lot of energy!

He's always burned a lot of energy. They were terrors as small, adorable children. There are also photos of them in matching outfits. "I dooooooooo," Artemisia sings roughly in key to Wicked. A musical that he absolutely was dragged to see when he visited her in New York. "We can redecorate a bit. So the place isn't too girly." A bit. He'll take her ruffles from her on a dying day. "Have you been to the insane thrift store here yet? We can get you some stuff."

There wasn't a lot of dragging to be done, truth be told. AJ likes musicals and probably went to any show that she wanted to go to when he visited her there. The singing gets a grin from him as he takes another bite. At least he's slowing down enough at this point to stop talking through it. Looking around, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Doesn't bother me. I'll wear my purple cat ears and fit right in." Girly has never really been a problem for him. Not when it comes to decor and accessories and the like.

"I forgot you had purple cat ears. I'll have to borrow them. I have a skirt they'd look cute with." Every day is dress-up day. Artemisia flashes him a pleased grin. "That is your color though."

"You can borrow them," Amadeus says. "See, more roommate benefits. Ear borrowing." He has a bunch of random cute accessories that he tends to wear in contrast with his very typical masculine wardrobe. There's something he likes about the way it doesn't quite all match or give a consistent impression. Keep'm guessing a little.

"Excellent. You're free to dig through my stuff too," Artemisia offers with a small, pleased smile after eating another bite. She has piles of accessories. And clothes. Don't go in her room. It's a mess.

Amadeus' own room at home is what one might term controlled chaos. There were drawers and racks and boxes of things. The things were vaguely related. But how any of it was 'organized' was anyone's guess. At least it was largely all off the floor and 'put away' for definitions of 'put away' but it was definitely chaotic. And he's gotten no less chaotic with age. "Nice," he says, finding this deal getting better by the minute.

"Alright then." Artemisia sets down her fork and extends a hand to her little brother. "Then that's it. Roommates." She seems genuinely pleased by this. "Also if I do the cooking you do the washing up." So, the same rules as when they were kids.

"Deal," AJ is quick to state, reaching out to take the offered hand and giving it a shake. It's not that his own cooking is bad, per se, but he doesn't enjoy doing it and he's more than fine with doing the dishes. "Roommates."