Scene #3439: Dinner and a Chat

Owner	Pose
Alice Margatroid	It's late evening around Alice's house and there's a pleasant smell wafting from the chimney at the back of the cottage. As promised, the door is unlocked and there's a couple dolls around the door. A smiling dollmaker is visible from the window, holding a plate with something on it. In the window, there's also a freshly baked pie in it, smells of apples. "She should be here soon. Tea is ready, fish is ready... I think she'll like it." she nods, humming happiliy for some reason.
Konoe Kanno	Not too long after, Konoe landed in front of Alice's house with a soft tap. She could smell the scents coming from the house all the way from the sky. It was far too enticing. It was a few paces to the door, and she opened it. Unlocked as Alice said it would be. "I'm here." She called in tentatively, removing her sandals before padding deeper in. The dolls get a look before that. "Good evening, Alice." She greeted the Dollmaker as she stepped over to the table. Nice and civil. No arguments or debates just yet. Without prompting, she sat down in the nearest seat at the table. And then her stomach growled. "Everything smells so good..." She said wistfully, closing her eyes and taking in the scent.
Alice Margatroid	"Come in, come in." she calls out towards the bakeneko, "Make yourself comfortable." she's still smiling as she places a small cup near Konoe's plate. Konoe's plate has a generous slab of breaded catfish, potatoes, carrots and other generally delicious things. "Evening, Konoe. I'm glad that you think everything smells good. I did work quite a bit to get this. The fish is freshly fished too after a trade from the fisherman. Pretty nice person too." She looks towards the window and lets out a soft sigh, "ANd that's Yumeko's recipe for apple pie, my favorite. I'll let you have a slice once we're done." a pause, "I'm not sure if you like apples... or pie."
Konoe Kanno	And without further ado, Konoe proceeds to dig into the plate before her with gusto. She only barely remembered to use utensils instead of her hands at the last moment. "Hrmph! Haahm! Thris ish-" Pause. Chew. Swallow. Long sip from cup. Sigh. "Ahh, I hadn't eaten all day. Thanks, Alice." She glanced off towards the window at the pie that was cooling. "...I don't mind apples or pie. I try to avoid most sweets though..." She ate Shinki's chocolate cake out of respect and forced it down back in Makai, but she hadn't told anyone about her vomiting fit that came after they all left. She shuddered. She shoveled more food into her mouth to chase away the memory. "So you got this from the village fresh? I see..." Another bite. "Well, it beats eating humans." When the last time she ate a human? Probably a long while. Longer still when you consider the majority of humans in the multiverse. After a moment of thought, she spoke again. "How have you been after...well, everything before?"
Alice Margatroid	Alice blinks and shakes her head, "You're welcome." ALice moves to sit down across, taking a few, silent bites as she listens to the neko miko. "It better beat eating humans, after all, Marisa cooks decently and I cook, you shouldn't need to worry about eating a human ever again.." she nods, sipping her tea a bit. "I've been fine, honestly. Still curious about a few things. Mostly like how a non magic user, non Gensokyo resident was able to use a spellcard." "Not to mention..." she starts, "You, honestly. Of all the people I expected, I didn't expect you to actually come and stop me. Unless you were using it as an excuse to beat me up without having to have a reason like we usually do." she gives a bit of a chuckle, "Not that I mind, you're getting better and I'm proud of you."
Konoe Kanno	"I won't. I get enough food to not eat humans these days, between you and Marisa-san, Shinra, and Heaven or Hell...there's plenty food to go around." She smiled a small smile at that, pausing in her devouring of her meal to reflect on it. She listened to Alice after a moment, nodding along. "I remember that. Tomoyo-san used your dolls in a spellcard. It was basic, but the fact that she did it was impressive enough..." She tilted her head a bit in thought. "I take it you haven't spoken to her yet?" Konoe blinked at the next part. "Eh?" She pointed to herself. "Me?" Oh boy. Now she was thinking about it. "...Well..." She averted her eyes to the side. "...Of course I came to stop you." Her voice got lower. "...I was worried..." And then the miko shoveled a ton of food into her mouth, chewing to avoid talking. Was that a blush on her cheeks?
Alice Margatroid	"MMm, yeah, I haven't had a chance to speak to her." Alice starts, taking some more food into her mouth. A moment later, "Konoe, you'll get hiccups that way and I don't want you to choke, slow down on the food." a frown, a stern fround before she shakes her head "Worried about me? Honestly, that's the first time I've seen you that worried. You even gave me a hug during the party at Mom's castle." She looks up a bit at the roof, a soft sigh given, "IT was nice, actually, to have that hug. Better than you throwing danmaku at me, Konoe." a pause as dolls come in with a tea kettle, "More tea?" she questions, getting a refill from the dolls, then the red tinge on the cheeks is noticed... "I was wondering if you would not mind coming along with me when I speak to Tomoyo. You might be better at some words than me."
Konoe Kanno	"Ahm nawt going to cho-HRK" Right on cue. Choking ever so delightfully, she beat her chest with a fist, and then grabbed the teacup and drank it all down, finally dislodging the stuck food and coughing wildly. "Kahk! Ack!" Well, that was graceful. "...O-Okay...maybe...maybe I should...slow down." Sighing heavily, she accepted a refill from the doll and set it aside. "Um...Well-" Agh, this was embarrassing. Skip it, skip it! Of course, the question that came after gave her pause. "Huh? Wait, what?" It was surprising enough to make her stop eating. "You want me to come with you when you speak to Tomoyo-san?" Cue head tilt. "...Are you sure? I'm not that great with words, I think."
Alice Margatroid	"I have my reasons and I do want to show you Tomoeda. It's a beautiful place so, it's also a good excuse to get out of Gensokyo and this Boston place you visit." she leans back in her chair and nods, "Plus, I'm sure Tomoyo wouldn't mind seeing you again." a pause, "OKay, so it's more so I can have you with me, you've been less annoying as of late, and I think that helped, with you beating me up during the incident." She sips a bit and looks at Konoe with a smile, leaning forward, "So yes, I am sure I would like you to come with me. Unless you just want to stay here and shed on my guest bed." she stifles a soft giggle, "I think you would like the visit too."
Konoe Kanno	Konoe pouted a bit at that. "I go to places other than Boston and Gensokyo! Like...Tokyo and... and... ...." Well, she did go to Flat Earth, Kaibaland, and Afterus, but those were one off situations. "Um..." SIGH. "Nevermind." She lost that one. Rather than try to continue arguing, she just shoveled more food into her mouth at a slightly more reasonable pace. While chewing, she listened to Alice and thought about what she said. Would Tomoyo mind? Sure, they knew each other, but they weren't...well, friends. Would she really not mind? But more than that, Alice's second admittance earns her a mildly surprised look from the miko. "Eh? You want me with you?" Squint. "Are you okay? Did you catch a cold?" And Konoe leaned forward over the table, reaching out to feel Alice's forehead temperature with a hand.
Alice Margatroid	Alice smiles, "I know I know, but..." she blinks, giving a bit of a nod. The hand is placed on her forehead and Alice frowns, "I did not catch a cold, I'm just being honest. You're tolerable enough to want me to have you come along with me." she gives a dismissal noise and moves to shovel more fish and food in her mouth, "Mmph!" Hourai floats in and chuckles, a rare thing. "Alice is just happy to have you here. Not to make it weird. Enjoy the dinner though, Alice did make it by hand. And by herself. Even if Yumeko did come visit for a bit to show her how...
Konoe Kanno	"Eh?" Konoe looked towards Hourai. Then back to Alice, withdrawing her hand. "You made this yourself? By hand? Without dolls?" Wow, she looked so surprised. Just what did she think about Alice's domestic skills? "Um...wow." She sat back down, looking at her mostly empty plate. "......" Now she felt a bit bad, seriously asking if the Dollmaker was sick. "...." Another moment of silence, and then Konoe grabbed the sides of her chair, scooting aside and around the bend of the table until she was next to Alice. Then she leaned aside and wrapped her arms around her waist in a hug. "...Thank you, Alice. I appreciate it." A pause followed. "...And I'll come with you when you go to see Tomoyo."
Alice Margatroid	"These hands don't just move string to use a doll." she states, "It was a bit of work but yes, all done by my hand. Why, did you think I only used my dolls for everything? That's just silly." she gives a light grin but she watches the cat move around with the chair, then the hug. Alice looks down at the neko miko and gives a soft sigh, a happy one before wrapping her own arm around Konoe's waist. "You're welcome, Konoe. And thank you. You'll like Tomoeda, I promise." she moves to ruffle the miko's ears gently, "Such a good kitty. Maybe I should change out the sheets to the more comfortable ones."
Konoe Kanno	"Mmn..." Konoe smiled, closing her eyes into the hug and allowing Alice to ruffle her ears. How rare. "You don't have to, Alice. The bed's good enough as it is." Though speaking of bed; a yawn escaped from her. "Ah...I guess I'm more tired than I thought I was..." That said, Konoe gave Alice one last squeeze before breaking off, returning the chair back to it's position. "I'm going to...ah, go to bed." She stood up, stretching her arms above her head and letting another yawn out. "Thanks for the food, Alice. Good night."
Alice Margatroid	Alice smiles briefly and nods, "Alright then." she complies and nods, "I'll take care of cleanup then, you're welcome and good night Konoe. Sleep well." ALice gives another smile as she looks towards her dolls, "Alright, time for cleanup." she starts, "Get to work girls, I'll be helping soon." As Konoe heads out, Alice looks at her hand, "She let me pet her ears..." she keep staring at her hand for a good couple minutes, shaking her head some before moving to help her dolls, "Alright, lets go..."