FIVE [Action]

[dunkinchili]

[A happily whistling Chili strolls into the kitchen, starts taking out ingredients for confectionery (sugar, flour, vanilla, chocolate, some spirits) when he heads to check the fridge for cheese, he finds a... cupboard, instead?

Still grinning, if momentarily confused, he opens a door. A block of ice.

It's a literal icebox.

Smile starts to waver, then...]

WHO DOWNGRADED THE KITCHEN BACK TO THE ICE AGE?!

[So loud, it just might sound out to the rest of the village.]

Comments

[In other news, fire is hot. Handle with caution.]

[dunkinchili]

[Blinking in stunned silence as he becomes completely drenched. Picture him as a blinking pair of eyes while Stunfisk drenches the rest of him, it's funnier that way.]

... I love battlin' while burning with the fire of determination, but this is ridiculous! Thanks, Stunfisk.

[Now, in a bit of a whining tone:] Hey, Cilan, let's go sleep outside, I don't trust this house anymore.

[cilantro]

[Stunfisk blinks before doing that chortling trollish laughter it has, which turns to preening when Cilan offers his Pokemon some headpats from where it's sitting on Crustle's rock. Yes, good trainer, praise us, for we have prevented your brother from dying a fiery death.]

Now now, we don't have to resort to that. I doubt that sleeping outside would be a good solution to dealing with this peculiar taste, and I'm sure that this is only temporary...

[Besides what are the chances that something weird would happen if they left the house, too?]

[dunkinchili]

I'd rather trust a sleepin' bag turning into a hay mat than the ceiling turning into a thatched roof and back again, that's all I'm saying. You can take my clearly superior reasoning or leave it, Cilan.

[cilantro]

[Cilan can't help but crack a slight smile at that, but he still tries to be the reasonable one here.]

And how do you know that your new mat wouldn't be in poor taste? The quality of its dry flavor could end up being irritating to the skin, or end up not so much as a mat but as an actual pile of moldy or rotting hay, considering your luck so far today, Chili. [...Okay, maybe not "reasonable" so much as mildly poking fun at you now.]

[dunkinchili]

[Cilan, you're too much sometimes. Chili just playfully shoves his brother's shoulder, making a half-amused, half-annoyed sound.]

Lay off! The fire didn't reach my skin, so I'm at least that lucky. Or maybe it's just your good fortune that saved me, but I'm obligated to give my fantastic self credit.

Hey, how about we cook something over a campfire out? They can't mess that up and it'll be nice! Or maybe have a picnic... the weather's been nice.

[cilantro]

[Cilan just laughs at the shoulder shove.]

Well...I suppose I can give my fantastic brother a little credit now for coming up with a sweet idea, for once... [What do you mean "for once" Cilan you are just teasing right--] A campfire or picnic sounds wonderful, Chili. If you'd like to do something like that, then I'd be happy to do so with you.

[We'll just have to...uh. Is the fridge back yet or is it still missing, and if so, we'll have to make do with whatever's still here or nab stuff from the grocery before heading out...]

[dunkinchili]

[Reddening cheeks because, wow, he doesn't get compliments that often and they get him a little (okay, maybe a lot) flustered, but it's nice!]

I'd love it! We could invite some people over, if you want.

[Who knows, they should check! It couldn't have gotten worse.]

[cilantro]

[Hm...] Well, if we do invite anyone, I'm sure Ash would be the easiest to invite--he's never one to turn down anything involving food, after all.

[Some of their other fellow trainers and house mates could be nice too, like Gold and Silver, and Crys now that she's back and if they're not busy. Masaomi might complain about the small amount of girls though, so he'd potentially bail...uh, who else is still here out of our tiny group of friends, we might need a second to think about it.]

[dunkinchili]

Yeah, Ash and whoever wants to come here!

I could make tarts, bet I could make some custard— no silly icebox can get in the way of that— and fruits and berries are easy to get!

[cilantro]

Right. We can always ask the rest of our house-mates if they would like to come along as well. Is there anyone that you'd like to invite along?

As for the tarts and custards, that sounds like it could be a nice and sweet taste to have--if need be, I could always go to the grocery again and pick up more supplies for other dishes to make, since our fridge is currently...missing...

[But then he's suddenly trailing off, as he's glanced over at where the ice box is...or was, more like. While they were distracted talking about their picnic idea, it appears that their fridge has mysteriously returned without their notice.

...Should they try to open it and see if the inside of it is okay?]

[dunkinchili]

[Caaautiously pulling open the refrigerator door, holding his breath, for what awaits them inside...!

Glowing white in the artificial light, their food rests neatly (aside from what suffered some disfigurement from having their containers thrown onto the floor and subsequently manhandled) on the trays. Very convenient, nicely cooled, ready for food preparation!]

Looks like we're good!

[cilantro]

[Cilan breathes a sigh of relief at that, before smiling. See, we knew that it would just be a temporary setback...]

Well, this is quite fortunate! [...Though, the fridge could potentially disappear again soon, so--] Let's take advantage of this fortuitous flavor while we can so that we can prepare for our picnic!

[dunkinchili]

Yup!

[Quickly bringing things out, because it really would be awful if it suddenly snapped shut on him, shrunk, and turned to wood again or something!]

I'll mix the custard! [The sort with egg yolk, corn starch, and vanilla, because the ones from cans don't come out smooth enough! Oh, and because Chili likes beating eggs, it's active and fun.]

[cilantro]

Excellent! [He'll trust you with that as he now turns away, talking to himself about other ideas.] Now, let's see...oh, what do you suppose would be a good drink to have? I think we still had some juice in the fridge, or I could make tea to go along with it...

[...Provided that everything else in the kitchen is still in one piece--god forbid turning around and having the stove be missing now instead or something when he tries to make tea or whatever.]

[dunkinchili]

[Please do trust him with it! He's pretty good with desert.]

Orange juice? I bet we still have plenty of that. [It's always orange juice. Do we even juice anything else in the Pokemon world?

(It'd be funny if the stove turned into a furnace, though!)]

[cilantro]

Yes--if we still have enough, then we'll be sure to bring some along with us. [Besides, making juice from things other than oranges? BLASPHEMY...] Plus, orange juice could be in good taste to have today...oh, maybe we could make some other treats to go along with it and the custards...

[...But then, perhaps after a minute or two, Chili might notice that Cilan's suddenly gone quiet. Upon inspection, he'll find his brother now staring at where the stove is...or rather, where it used to be. That sure is a very old looking stove (furnace?) that you boys have there now, it looks like it would practically fall apart if you touched it carelessly...]

[dunkinchili]

The custard's gonna be the filling for the tarts!

[Hey, why'd Cilan go quiet? Chili turned, approaching his brother and following his line of sight to the offensively dated kitchen apparatus.]

... or, you know, we could just gather some sticks and scrape two rocks together outside.

That's cool.