Scene #2409:

Owner	Pose
Faruja	Faruja has finally managed to get away from the office! Still in the midst of trying to get a transfer order for his improperly imprisoned Acolyte, it's time to work on more domestic matters. Namely, Ainsley. Peering into a great spirit like she did isn't exactly healthy, and concern has lingered ever since he read the report. Thus it is, to the nearest warpgate he goes back home. Eventually, it's to the kitchen with him as he starts cooking up a meal and tea for his beloved. "Ainsley? Art ye about the house mine dear?" he radios to her. Time to draw out the lizard!
Ainsley	Click, creak, thump. The sound of Ainsley's office door opening and then closing again. The lizard girl shuffles down the steps at a careful pace and makes her way down to the kitchen, where she had heard the sound of pots and pans. She arrives to the kitchen wearing what looks like full body black pajamas, and she has the signs that she was practicing her oil painting earlier. She steps over to Faruja and hugs him around the middle, briefly, and then turns to regard the food he's making, her tail curling around one of his legs. "How's Strawberry doing?" she wonders, since she knows how much effort he's put into helping the poor Acolyte.
Faruja	Hugs! Faruja smiles, leaning back into that hug as his tail entwines with Ainsley's for a moment. When they let go, he's back to cooking! Some sort of home-made soup it seems. In goes carrots, some onions, beef broth and meat-bits. His smile fades a little at the mention of his Acolyte, scowling. "Better. Under house arrest now that we hath credible evidence. Guarded constantly, however. Stir crazy and wanting to get back to work. She hath a few projects she can work on, but, she hath always been one to roam and rarely stays still. Being locked up is doing her no favors. Working on getting her transferred to Njorun until we capture the culprits and the trial is finished, but, paperwork." Even the Church isn't immune. Amidst stirring the spot, he turns back to Ainsley. "What about ye? Holding up after the...incident?" Asks Faruja gently.
Ainsley	The soup is regarded with that warm, patient smile of a lady that is skeptical about its taste but not disapproving of the effort. Ainsley doesn't voice any concerns about the soup, and instead turns her smile to Faruja, even with the concerning information about paperwork and dealing with bureaucrats and law-makers. The lizard girl reaches to pet at one of his arms soothingly toward the end of that. She directs the conversation to her. "I feel like a child that stuck her hand in a blender," she tells Faruja, bluntly, having lost even a smidgen of her ability to conceal anything about herself, especially from him. "It really was much more than I was expecting. I was blind for days because of it. I hated feeling helpless..." She rubs at some of the dried paint on her hand, and tells Faruja, "I've been painting to relieve the stress."
Faruja	Faruja isn't the best cook in the world, but he's clearly giving it his all! His lizard needs comfort, and there's nothing better than home-cooked meals! The arm-pets at least help his mood. Cranking down the heat, he lets it simmer a bit as he gives Ainsley his full attention. Wince. "That bad? Glad ye art recovering at least. If ye wish to talk about what ye saw, I am here, my sweet." Offers the rat. " He pauses. "Oh? What is the subject? Ye and Dame Banari aught try painting together some time."
Ainsley	Ainsley looks at Faruja for a while when he offers to listen to her. She considers, in that look, whether he would want to hear it, or if it's even a good idea to speak about it. Her smile momentarily fades in place of her thoughts. The question about the painting and the suggestion of collaborating with Riva are pushed aside, and instead the lizard girl places her hand on Faruja's wrist meaningfully. "It was beautiful," she admits, "It was huge and terrifying, it was like staring into the soul of god that no one wants to worship. I saw and felt his sorrow and I felt how alien he was. I saw how he speaks and it was so different than me or you." "He is alone and he is depressed," she tells Faruja, "And he has so much power and an existence at a level beyond the humans of that world." She looks at Faruja's eyes, and frowns softly. "Is it strange, to feel sorrow for a being that is unlikely to feel the same for me?"
Faruja	Faruja takes Ainsley's hand with the other, patient and open. He likes just how honest and open the lizardess has become, his many worries for now at least quieted in the face of her change. "Mmm. Difficult, of course, to ponder beings that art of such power." He deliberately doesn't refer to this creature as a god, the stubborn rat. "Strange? No. One of the reasons I fell in love with ye was the empathy ye hath for others, Ainsley. It is, however, a touch dangerous. I find myself suspicious of the thing. What is its agenda?" Comes Faruja in full 'suspicious inquisitor' mode. A huff. "So do not lose that spark, hmm? Just next time be a little more careful." Cue a tight, squeezing hug! Then there's a sound and Faruja is rushing back to the pot to salvage that which is about to boil over! "Oh bloody abyss! The recipe said simmer ten minutes!"
Ainsley	The hug is a connection, so Ainsley embraces it, leaning into the touch and pressing up close, showing her love in a simple hold. She draws away from the hug when Faruja's soup starts boiling over, stepping away helpfully so he can attend to it. She watches until he deals with it, smiling once more. "He may not have an agenda," she tells Faruja, "He does what a depressed, dying man told him to do. There was a connection there, and it led to his current actions... stopping disasters, saving people. But the sorrow doesn't go away even now. Something is wrong with him that isn't a sinister motive." "I am going to ask why he's sad," she tells Faruja. "When he answers, I will know his nature, or the nature he chooses to manifest."
Faruja	Soup saved! Whoo. Faruja keeps a closer eye on it this time, though he listens to the lizardess beside him. A tilt of his head as he considers. "Well, I /do/ suppose ye wouldst know more than I on that." Getting knocked out by a celestial being's hello tends to engender a certain amount of knowledge. Another pause, and he turns to fully look at her. There's a deep sigh here, and then a nod. "Alright. If ye truly think this thing is benevolent, at least in part, then I shall do what I can to aide ye. Just let us take this lightly. Between the soul mirror, and now this, ye hath been through quite a few shocks recently even /if/ they hath turned out well. I doth not wish ye to come to harm." A squeeze to her shoulder, then it's time for soup. Soon he's holding out a bowl to her. "Tell me how it tastes!" Time for his culinary skills to be judged! Big rat eye peers at Ainsley hopefully!
Ainsley	"I did not say benevolent," Ainsley clarifies, in a soft tone of voice, while she gathers up her bowl, "But simply lacking in malice toward humanity. Anything beyond that is unclear." The soup is gathered into a bowl, and looked into with a quizzical stare. She slurps at it off a large spoon, and stuffs some of the vegetables and meat into her mouth alongside the soupy broth. She coils and sways her tail idly while she eats, and as she does this, she shuffles over to lean against Faruja. "It tastes like soup," she answers, "Which is good."
Faruja	Ainsley's answer makes Faruja visibly more worried. He sighs. "Mmm. We shall see what we learn, hmm?" Faruja leans in, watching as Ainsley eats! Then she answers. His face falls a bit, he squints, then makes his own bowl. Siiiip. "...Well, it seems culinarian is not going to be my new occupation." Nomf. Still, he's had worse. The tea, however, is excellent. "I think tonight is going to be movie night." He says solemnly. A night of relaxation for good Ainsley!