“Eh?!” Calista’s nose wrinkled at the unholy combination of food before her: curry and candy. “What is that, mi coro?”

The banisher chuckled, turning the bowl in his hands.

“Dinner,” he winked, grinning.

Calista folded her arms, narrowing her eyes. “You cannot be serious.”

He wasn’t. Not by a long shot, by the smile rapidly cracking his mask. His eyes glinted with mischief.

“No,” Phaedrus laughed, glancing around the kitchen. “It is for those blasted mice.”

“They like that?” Calista’s nose wrinkled further. “That looks disgusting…”

“Who can guess what the void likes, mm? Perhaps they are combining their trick-or-treating and dinner.” His grin spread. “Efficient.”

“I am getting sick,” the witch grumbled, turning away. She planted her hands on her hips. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Lure them into warded jars,” Phaedrus nodded. “So they cannot escape! And then, back to the void from whence they came. I wonder how they came to be, anyway…sorcerous mishap? A mingling of realities, this Hallow month?”

Calista shrugged, twisting her braid in a finger.

“So long as they are gone. They got into the chocolate.”

“That won’t do,” the banisher chuckled, scooping mouse-sized bits of curry into several jar traps. “Well…let’s leave these overnight. A fine meal before they are banished from whence they came, I suppose…”

Snack time ^_^

Bo walked into the kitchen with a huff.  It was Halloween, and he was visiting his parents who were renting a small cottage rather than galivanting as they usually did.  He missed his boyfriend, but seeing his parents in a domestic setting was actually… rather nice.  He’d at least made time to dress up, though he supposed ‘vampire’ wasn’t exactly the most original idea.  Whatever.

“Need more candy?” Selby asked with a grin.  “I’ve never seen so many kids running around before!”

“They’re relentless,” Bo shook his head. 

While his mother filled the candy bowl, Bo sauntered over to see what his father was doing.  He had his back to the rest of them, hunched over a tray of delicious-looking creations.  They were like little cake pops, with a chocolate coating and gummy worms dangling from the sides.  “What are these?” He asked in wonder.

Timin straightened and turned towards his son.  “Jellyfish pops!” He declared.  Then, seeing the glint in Bo’s eye, he frowned.  “Not for you.  Don’t even think about it.”

“What, why!”

“They’re to catch mice.  Void mice.”  Timin responded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait, these are to catch mice”

“Void mice,” his father repeated.  Bo didn’t dignify that with a response.  Leave it to his parents to find some weird creature to catch. 

“Here, honey,” Selby handed Bo the refilled bowl of candy.  “Go give those kids what they’ve been waiting for all year.”

“You got it,” Bo nodded.  As he turned towards the door, Timin called Selby over to look at something outside the window.  The two were chattering animatedly, their attention fully fixed, and Bo couldn’t help himself.  He snagged one of the jellyfish pops from the tray before dashing back outside. 

Once again seated outside the front door, Bo handed pieces of candy to the children who’d obviously been awaiting his return.  The lurkers now satisfied, he examined his new treat.  It looked so tasty.  It would be a shame to give these to rodents!  He plucked off the gummy worms one by one, savoring the sweet, artificially fruity taste.  Then, when just the chocolate covered cakepop remained, he bit into it.  It was the perfect texture, soft and rich with a slight crunch from the chocolate.  But then… oh, the flavor.  It started off sweet, with a hint of… Well, something?  He thought for a second perhaps his father had added too much salt.  But no.  Suddenly, his entire mouth was on fire.  It was spicy!!!!  Yelping, Bo flew to his feet and dashed inside for something to drink.  There was a pitcher of water in the fridge, he knew, and he yanked the door open before lifting the entire pitcher to his lips and gulping as much down as he could.

His parents, meanwhile, watched in dumbfounded silence.  After a moment, Timin cast a glance to his tray of mouse lures and realized, sure enough, one was missing.  His expression changed from one of concern to one of disappointment.  “I don’t you they weren’t for you.”

Bo, mouth ablaze and feeling chastised, could only flatten his ears to his head and continue pouring water in his mouth.  Why can’t my parents just be normal!?

(Featuring the ever adventurous Saph.

“Come on, how bad could it be?” Saph had his trademark Charismatic Grin plastered across his face, the fellow just exuding charm as effortlessly as breathing.

But Greg wasn’t buying it, “It has carrots and peas in it.”

“So? I’ve had plenty of spicy food with those. You can’t say no to a good curry,” Saph’s grin widened, “Even had one with chocolate once. Surprisingly good!”

“And the marshmallows?” Greg lifted an eyebrow at his friend, but they both knew his protesting was falling on deaf ears; when Saph wanted to try something, he rarely backed down.

“Added flavor,” Saph answered easily. “The line wouldn’t be this long if the food wasn’t great.”

“...I really don’t think this is a good idea,” with a long-suffering sigh, Greg placed the order, “Two candy curries, thanks.”

The fellow behind the counter looked fairly amused by the whole thing, but Saph was right about the line. It stretched behind them all the way around the block. They’d been lucky to get there just before the evening rush, but now with so many people milling about, it was easy to see that this vendor was one of the more popular ones. When the two paper bowls were placed in front of him, Greg gave them a dubious look before taking one and handing the other to Saph. As they made their way to grab spoons, Saph dipped a finger into his and tried it, not bothering to wait.

“How is it?” when the model didn’t immediately start talking about the flavor, Greg lifted a brow again.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Saph admitted, almost sheepishly, “The carrots and peas are all mixed together in the chocolate. It tastes fine, but it’s got an odd texture for a dessert.”

“That so?” Greg grabbed a spoon and took a tentative bite, both eyebrows going up this time,” Huh.”

“See?” Saph had also acquired a spoon, and was cautiously eating more.

“It’s not… not bad,” Greg admitted, “Weird texture though, yeah. Maybe even a bit too sweet.”

“Mmmh,” Saph nodded, shovelling the marshmallowy bits onto his mouth. There seemed to be less chewing and more just inhaling the stuff down, “Maan, what a sugar rush though. I might need more of this.”

“Er, why don’t we just get some hot chocolate with marshmallows,” Greg suggested quickly, seeing immediately how oddly cheerful Saph was acting. If the only status effect Saph gained from the stuff was a sugar rush, he’d consider them both lucky. The spiciness was almost too much for him. “We can even look for some chilli powder to drop in it, so it’s spicy,” he added, not at all a fan of the carroty crunch. Or the odd texture of peas in chocolate.

“Whew, it does kind of pack a punch,” Saph had all but finished his already, “I uh, might need to sit down,” taking a breath and swaying just a little. “I think all this sugar’s gone to my head.”

“Not really surprising,” Greg headed over to a table, setting down his nearly untouched bowl of candy curry, “You park yourself here while I go look for something to drink.”

“Good idea,” Saph giggled, a little more loudly than necessary, dropping down into a chair, “Hey, you gonna eat the rest of yours?”

Octavia rummaged through her supplies in the cold box, pulling out carrots, celery, and a spicy pepper.
“I better use this before it goes bad! But I’m not sure what kind of dish I can make without it being too bland…”

Swishing her plush tail, she continues her search in the cabinets, only to find a bag of unopened marshmallows. She thought about the sweet taste on the vegetables and wrinkled the bridge of her nose. It might taste okay on sweet potatoes but it sounded rather unappetizing on the variety of vegetables she had in front of her. As quickly as she dismissed the idea, she remembered the surrounding community needing help with lures for the void mice that were making mischief in town.

“I might hate it, but the mice might have a different idea!” Quickly she dumped the vegetables onto the stove in a pan with water to steam them, then places them in a glass dish in layers with the marshmallows. When it was baked to perfection, Octavia pulled it out of the heated oven as void mice started to stir from their dens, sniffing the air in anticipation…

sorry the image quality is so poor usually its not so bad but i borked up the lighting and didnt notice until it was too late!!!

A set of the Riftkeeper and Halloween No Thoughts Owl items :)

A mouse takes on the gummy noodle soup

Silas furrowed their brows in confusion at the strange sight before them. “Cos, what in the world are you doing?”

The eccentric Kelph in question didn’t even bother turning in their direction, instead continuing to tear open bags of candy and dump them into Silas’ favorite casserole dish. “What else, but celebrating the holiday!”

Silas huffed. “No, you’re not—not with my kitchenware, you’re not.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine.” Cos poked around in the mess of candy and marshmallows, as if to settle everything into the perfect spot. “It’s nothing that’ll hurt it.”

“It’s less that it might hurt it, but more like it’ll be cursed by that abomination!”

But arguing was pointless, as the mess of sugar and chocolate was slipped into the oven. They pressed a palm to their face, exasperated, unable to watch. “You… Ugh, just make sure you clean up afterwards! And don’t you DARE walk away and leave this unattended. I’m not getting kicked out of this place because you nearly burn it down playing around with stupid food.”

“So who exactly let Serena in the kitchen?” Ash was hovering in the hallway to the castle kitchens, the afternoon light casting shadows across his face. Trys looked up, squinting her eyes through the light and through watery tears to see his face. She was having difficulty keeping her eyes from leaking due to the smell emanating from the doorway next to her. It wasn’t an absolutely abhorrent scent, like one of Bear’s socks might be, but it was still odd in a way that made her stomach twist. She could tell by Ash’s scrunched nose that he felt the same.

“No idea. She said she was helping catch some void mice with… some sort of lure, but I have no idea what that entails,” Trys cast a quick glance toward the kitchens. She could see a glimpse of the firelight from the ovens on the stones opposite the doorway. “I’m not sure I want to know. I’m too afraid to go inside,”

Ash took her arm in a stately manner despite lacking his princely garb, and managed a smile. Trys was sure he was hiding illness under it, sure that her stomach couldn’t be alone in its confusion. “Well, we’ll go together then. Someone’s got to brave the lion’s den, right?”

Trys let out a groan, but grabbed onto his arm like one would a life raft on the open sea. She knew she had to go see what was going on, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Luckily, as they stepped inside, they noticed the smell grow slightly more comprehensible, as well as slightly stronger. It was something strangely like stew, only there was a sweetness too, as if someone were crafting a fine dessert. Trys’s nose twitched.

“Prince Rook! And Trysie!!” Serena was busy at the fireside, stirring a large pot of something that was at least ten different shades of brown. Trys stiffened, grasping onto Ash’s arm for support as the sight almost made her feel like tipping over. “Have you come to help me make something for the mice?”

“Well, perhaps,” Tilting his head, Ash hummed noncommittally. Now that Trys wasn’t the only one present, he was doing a better job at maintaining that loose, neutral expression. “Depends on uh… what exactly you’re making,”

“Candy curry!” Serena lifted her spoon, brandishing it toward the two like a rapier. It dripped with something liquid and viscous and deep brown, like different kinds of melted chocolate that hadn’t mixed. Both Trys and Ash broke character, making faces that Serena didn’t seem to register as being disgusted. “Want a taste?”

“We better save that for the mice. We want to catch as many as possible, after all,” Trys managed, holding up a hand as if to ward off the concoction with just her thoughts. Still, she braved the way forward with Ash, coming to stand by the cauldron. Beside her, Ash peered into the enormous kettle, though she kept her eyes averted from it and on Serena’s face. “So, this is supposed to lure those void mice?”

“Oh, yes! They absolutely love stuff like this,” Serena giggled in her airy way, dropping her spoon back in the cauldron. “Although it does take a variety of ingredients, of course,”

Trys swallowed, not daring to look down. She could feel Ash moving beside her. “Like… what kind of ingredients?...”

“Oh, well a lot of chocolate! But you’ll also want peas and carrots too. And I find marshmallow make a great side dish,” She chirped, gesturing with a hand toward a table on her right where she had indeed chopped and prepped said ingredients. They all looked odd side by side, chocolate and vegetables that one wouldn’t normally put in the same sentence.

“You can really taste the carrot,” From beside Trys, Ash spoke. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to him, where he was holding the spoon up over the cauldron. Apparently his curiosity had won him over, as he must’ve dipped a finger onto the spoon and then stuck it in his mouth. “Sweet, but not overly so… I’m kind of surprised,”

Serena was clearly delighted, but Trys could only gape at him. She had known the prince to be bold, but to actually try Serena’s strange creation… it truly was a night of tricks. Meaningfully, Ash smacked his lips, before glancing up to Serena. “I feel like it could use some salt though. To really bring out the flavor,”

Trys thought she might faint.

Naadir felt dejected. Mycenians all around carried the fabled Jellyfish Pop and the Candy Curry.

“The spicy candy goes well with the caramel!” They would shout with joy.

“A curry whose sweetness in are brought by peas and carrots! No turmeric in the recipe, only the lovely scent of marshmallows and chocolate!”

Naadir was sullen, his crop of celery was frowned upon. Many mycena left wailing in despair at his gift. He had, after all, insisted to Bruc that celery gave that umami flavor, that crunchy texture, that would enamor all: mycenians and void mouse alike.

It so happened, it only enchanted void mouse. Not even those well-versed in economics approved of the celery. “Four out of six lures require celery, but three out of those four are truly subpar. Six to nine points? No, no, that wouldn’t do. Gummy worms on the other hand…”

Naadir sighed as he awaited in the bushes, sometimes handing out treats that have fallen from overflowing pockets of excited mycenians running around.

He was munching on one of his celery sticks, when a mycenian stopped in his tracks, eyes glued to his unpopular stash. “Trick or ... just trick please!” The drasillis spoke, entranced by his celery sticks.

Naadir awkwardly smiled as he handed out a ‘trick’. The mycenian quickly snatched it, a crazed smile. “A gummy noodle soup… enough charges to find them… those pesky mice won’t hide from me!”

The stranger left with glee, as his beloved Eros appeared, sitting besides him, snuggling his face. “I’ve been giving out gummy worms… and peas”. Naadir snuggled back as he smiled.

Naadir felt pleased, his mood uplifted as Eros laughed, speaking of the treats and the tricks done in the night.

Naadir knew, that for those that had trained with lesser lures, were now capable of creating the strongest one.

It required the rare peas.

But it also… his celery.

Cajun ran back and forth, her arms full of spicy peppers: both the explosive kind and the edible kind. Her green eyes took on a crazed gleam as she dashed from her kitchen to her workshop (and back again). The edge of her fur was singed, the burnt hair smell sickening. It was difficult to tell, though, if the burns had been caused by her awful cooking or her extensive use of gunpowder in the past few weeks.

Her companion danced from paw to paw, waiting for a moment to interrupt her frantic movements. “Are you ready to head out again? You’ve been cooking for the last two hours,” the complained as Cajun paused in the hallway to catch her breath. Cajun chuffed in response.

“Am I ready?! Y’all, I’ve never felt this alive in my life! Peppers everywhere! Here, there, and way over there! But I gotta do it right, yeah? I need at least fifty more explosives and uh… maybe one lure?”

“Fifty explosives? Why fifty explosives for just a couple of void mice?!” her companion replied, looking both alarmed and confused.

“Because BOOM!” Cajun hollered back, not giving the other a chance to respond as she returned to her wild careening.

“You said you would at least try a bite of it if I got you the jellyfish pop,” bantered Kalani as he titled the dirt and worms on a log toward Nixie, watching her inch further and further away down the bench. “You realize that you have had something like this before.”

“No, I haven’t,” whined Nixie as she turned her nose up at it, removed another tentacle from her jellyfish pop, and ate it, reaching the end of the bench. “I would remember if I ate something that looked like that.”

“Okay, maybe the turnip is throwing you, but you honestly can’t taste it,” replied Kalani as he tilted the fancy celery stick back toward himself and took another bite, slurping up one of the gummy worms. “They definitely boiled it before they added it to the chocolate, so you cannot taste it.”

Raising her upper lip in disgust, Nixie yanked another tentacle off her pop and tossed it into her mouth. “I really think you are lying to me about this,” she said, tilting her head to look at the chocolate-covered celery from another angle. “I am pretty sure you are just pulling my paw.”

“If I tell you what it is that is similar to it, will you try it?” asked Kalain as he took another bite, making sure the crunchy sound was exceptionally loud for the stick of celery.

“Try me,” responded Nixie as she took the last tentacle off the pop and ate it before shoving the lollipop into her mouth.

“Ants on a log,” replied Kalani as he kept a straight face. “100%, scouts honor that this is just the chocolate version of that. Instead of peanut butter, 100% cocoa goodness, and instead of raisins, you get delectable gummy worms.”

“No way, not even close,” cried out Nixie as she hoped off the bench to stand in front of her father. “Ants on a Log is so tasty; this just looks unedible.”

“Just give it a try, and decide after,” said Kalani as he tilted the dirt and worms on a log toward Nixie once again.

Watching the dirt and worms on a log tilt back toward her, Nixie closed her eyes and took a giant bite out of it, chewing slowly. She raised an eyebrow before opening her eyes and saying, “I guess you were right; it does taste like a sweet version of ants on a log. Though I prefer the peanut butter over the chocolate, maybe they could combine the chocolate with peanut butter next time.”

“See, I knew you wouldn’t hate it,” said Kalani as he brought the dirt and worms on a log back toward himself and ate the remainder of it. “Trying new things isn’t always bad.”