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

[cilantro]

Chili, don't shout.

[And in strolls Cilan, having been summoned by the sounds from the kitchen. (And judging from the book in his hand, he may have been reading or something when he suddenly heard the noise in here.) Nonetheless, if there is a problem with the kitchen, then he will be pretty concerned, since he's supposed to cook dinner or such later today.] Now, what seems to be the trouble here?

[dunkinchili]

EEEEYAAAARGH!!

[Okay, he's not shouting now, he's screaming. Is that an improvement Cilan?

He grabs Cilan's shoulders and pushes him towards the literal icebox, apparently forgetting how to speak in sentences.]

THAT. UGH— _wouldyoujustGAH!

[cilantro]

[No, that is not an improvement, Chili. In fact, Cilan actually looks kind of annoyed for a second there, eye twitching and mouth opening like he's about to lecture him or something as his brother pushes him over--and then whatever he was about to say promptly dies in his throat as he now sees what the problem is.]

An icebox? [Wait a second...] Where's the fridge?

[dunkinchili]

GONE, thaaaat's whatI'VEBEENTRYIN'_totellyouIT'S BEEN REPLACED BY THAT AWFUL THING!!

To think that us brothers, who ran a restaurant back home, are stuck with this ancient, sorry excuse for a kitchen appliance, it's disgraceful! It's a shame! It makes y'wanna hide away and never show your face again!

We gotta have a talk with whoever's behind this and get our fridge back!

[cilantro]

[You know, a normal, sane person would probably tell Chili that he's over-reacting (which, he is), but...Cilan actually agrees with him a little about this.]

Yes, this is a rather primitive taste... [He'll reach out to close the door of the icebox with his free hand--no sense in leaving the door open and letting the ice melt and drip everywhere.] I doubt that it will be easy to contact the people in charge to do something about this, but you and I should check on our remaining food and supplies to make sure that they're still here.

[Otherwise dinner tonight is going to be a sad affair, and...well, have you seen the look Ash gives people when you tell him that someone stole our food.]

[dunkinchili]

[That's because this is undeniably a travesty of epic proportions, Cilan!]

D-don't open that. It's... all there, trust me.

[A very well-fed looking Pansear waddles away behind him, cleaning food off from around his mouth.]

All, uh, apart from a few casualties...

[No, Chili hasn't seen that particular expression, but the look Ash gives when you insult his mother's pretty scary too!]

[cilantro]

"Casualties"? [...And yes, he is likely raising an eyebrow now once he notices Pansear waddling by behind Chili...you know, just out of curiosity...] So, what were you trying to do in the kitchen before you noticed that the fridge was missing?

[dunkinchili]

[Pansear burps up a small, puff of smoke.] Yeah, somefoodfellonmean'Cryssowehadtothrowitout. [Mumbled really quickly, before he answers the second question confidently:]

Make myself a cheesecake, 'cause I finished yesterday's!

[Where does it all go?]

[cilantro]

Already? [Gosh, that was quick.] Goodness, sometimes I wonder if you really know the meaning of "savoring the taste of your"--wait, what was that first thing you just said?

['Cause that sounded suspiciously like you said that some of our food had to be thrown out 8|]

[dunkinchili]

[Busted. He cringes, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, before carrying on with some shaky approximation of confidence.]

Hey, it's fine by me if you wanna eat food offa people, I ain't gonna judge you, but I don't think anyone else is interested in eatin' it. It was pretty messy.

[New plan! Say something disturbing and awkward to distract from the topic at hand!]

[cilantro]

[Cilan makes a face at that in response before he looks around, giving a slight sigh.]

Well, at least the kitchen appears to be clean now. [It's probably a good thing that Cilan didn't walk in when you and Crys were dealing with the mess, he'd probably be madder.] I'll have to make another trip to the grocery, but hopefully there aren't any further problems with the kitchen...

[Unless there's something else you're not telling us, but it's just the fridge that's changed now...right...?]

[dunkinchili]

Nah, we're good, unless someone decides to tear out our sink for a—

[Did you hear something loud, heavy, and possibly wall-rattling?]

Pump?

[... do you even dare to look?]

[cilantro]

[...Cilan turns to look, and sure enough, it looks like the area where their sink was has been replaced by an old-fashioned pump. He can't help but stare speechlessly for a second. If this was an anime, there would probably be a sweatdrop here when he finally speaks.]

...Well, I must admit, their taste in humor has rather convenient timing to it? [That is, if the guys in charge really have anything to do with it and all, never mind how this probably isn't a laughing matter right now.]

[dunkinchili]

Maybe... maybe if we just ignore it, it'll stop. Maybe you're right and they're doing this to get a rise out of us and if we don't let 'em...

[Chili turns calmly, starting to walk out of the kitchen.] They'll stop. Just like that!

[Poof goes one of the light bulbs, into a little oil lamp on the floor that Chili accidentally sets his pant leg on fire with.

GYAH!! [Giving up on Luceti right now. This very instant.]

chili you are a walking disaster I swear

[cilantro]

Chili! [Cilan immediately races over to that water pump to try to get some water to put the fire out. (We would use a fire extinguisher, but it's normally kept in this area by the sink...) Is there a bucket around here or--but before he can potentially procure one, the water pump suddenly changes back into a normal sink again...huh, that's kind of strange...

...wait, Chili's on fire let's not stare at the reappearance of the sink for too long. So now that the sink's back, Cilan can procure water or the fire extinguisher to put out the fire...but then that choice gets taken right out of his hands, because Cilan's Pokemon have come into the room after hearing the noise in here.

Guess who's suddenly getting sprayed with water courtesy of Stunfisk instead.

(On the bright side, at least it tried to use the least amount of hot water as possible when it did that?)]

[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?]