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Who: Souji [

breakthecurse], and EVERYONE!
Where: The Diner
When: December 26
Rating: PG at most, likely
Summary: Christmas chicken and cake has to be a little late this year, but Souji and Tohru aren't balked by that.
The Story:
This year is the second annual KFC Christmas in Wonderland. At least, it was planned to be. The Jabberwocky, Mirror switching, and Souji's amnesia caused a slight delay, but when everything went back to normal last night, he remembered his and Tohru's plans.

They convened in the diner this morning to get things ready before setting a signboard and the Colonel (plus twinkling fairy lights) outside the door to advertise the post-Christmas special.

Fried chicken (with Souji's best approximation of the 11 herbs and spices), a few appropriate sides, and plenty of Christmas cake complete the menu today. Cocoa, coffee, tea, and various other drinks are available.

Come on in! Feel free to use this log to mingle.

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So Carlos isn’t usually one for fried food, but who wouldn’t be intrigued by a KFC Colonel decked out in lights? Also, it’s been pretty harrowing being holed up waiting for the world as everyone knows it to end. Maybe eating something terrible for you is just something one does after dodging some other, faster kind of certain doom.

“Well, this is… unexpectedly festive.” He’s still grinning at the Colonel back over his shoulder as he steps into the room.

Souji's chicken is the best thing for anyone, except for his cake, which is even better for you.

He hears Carlos's comment and looks toward the door. He can't see the Colonel, just the blinking colored light from his decorations, but it's easy to figure out what he's referring to.

"It's a little late, but Christmas was kind of busy." Plus Souji didn't know how to make chicken on Christmas, so waiting was a better choice. "What do you think?"

“It’s certainly different from what I’m used to, but I like it. It’s nice to see something lighthearted and festive after the Christmas we had.” It had been his first Christmas in Wonderland, and no amount of warning had really prepared him for the chaos. Speaking of-

“By the way, this food won’t have any… side effects, will it? No mood alterations or age fluctuating?”

Souji shakes his head.

"I made all this." And sampled most of it. "It's safe."

He picks up a pair of tongs, then pauses.

"I can make you something else, though, if you don't want chicken."

“Oh no, please- chicken is fine.” Carlos waves off the offer as he finds a seat. “If it’s not going to affect me mentally or physically, past how food normally affects a person, then it’s fine. I just made the mistake of trusting Wonderland’s mysteriously appearing food a few weeks ago, and… if I had to guess, I’d say I was roughly three years old for a while.”

He looks a little sheepish as he adds, “If you saw a mountain of cooking utensils in the kitchen around that time, that was from me."

One corner of Souji's mouth quirks as he starts to fill up the plate for Carlos with a couple pieces of chicken and some sides.

"I had the cookies. I was five, I think, and I made a mess of the kitchen, too."

He turns back and puts the plate in front of Carlos, along with a napkin--he'll need it.

"Would you like a drink?"

“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t meet and join forces then. We might have really done some damage.” Even though he does trust Souji so far, Carlos is tentative with his first couple of bites. It’s nothing personal and has everything to do instead with both Wonderland and the place Carlos was brought here from. In the latter, sometimes the food would bite back. It’s not long though before he’s actually enjoying the meal.

“Yes- actually, do you have anything caffeinated? It can be coffee, or not-coffee. Anything works.”

Souji nods and pours a cup of coffee for Carlos, pushing over some cream and sugar along with it.

"Being a little kid is pretty fun, though, as long as nothing dangerous is happening at the same time. Then you're just kind of in the way."

“Very true. We’re lucky it didn’t last until the incident with the Jabberwocky… or it didn’t for me, at least. Maybe it did for others? [ He frowns as he prepares his coffee, keeping the additions minimal so it’s still dark and strong. ] I wonder if Wonderland would ever put us in a situation like that. It seems like it wants us to have a fighting chance in most cases of danger... I swear it has a mind of its own sometimes.

Oh it definitely has a life of its own, Souji is certain of that much.

"There have been a few times when it really didn't do us any favors. It usually lets us off easy for a little while afterward, though."

It can't really be called a pattern, since Wonderland is never that predictable, but it's close.

“Giving us time to recover… that’s strange, isn’t it?” Because how can a place be sentient enough to give its citizens a break? So many questions, so few answers.

“It sounds like you’ve been here for a while. I haven’t even been in Wonderland a year myself.” It’s depressing to see people as young as Souji here in the middle of such a mess, even if it seems like most of them can hold their own.

Souji looks at his hand, counting on his fingers before nodding. "Three years and a half years, almost."

It is a long time. He'd be almost 21 and half way through university at home.

Carlos’s eyes widen as he stares at Souji over the rim of his coffee cup. He’s mostly recovered his composure before setting the mug down. Mostly.

“That’s the longest I’ve heard yet… and you haven’t aged in all that time? You’re just the same as when you arrived?” He’s heard that from others before, but it hadn’t really sunk in before now.

"Physically." After dying three times, he's sure it's impossible that he's psychologically the same. "I'm not sure I even have any scars from anything..."

To be honest, that's mostly because he has healing powers and not because injuries just don't leave scars here.

"How long have you been here?"

“I’ve been here less than a year. When I first got here, I think it was…” He sits back in his chair, frowning up at the ceiling as he does the mental math. Remembering specific dates isn’t usually his forte.

“Last spring? Late last spring. Though I just got back from a visit back home, so this all sort of feels new again.”

Remembering specific dates is difficult in Wonderland in general, so Souji certainly doesn't blame Carlos for the generalities.

"Was it nice to visit home?" Or maybe it would have been easier to just stay here rather than go back and forth.

“Well, at the time I didn’t remember being here at all. But now that I’m back…” he considers the question silently before answering, finger tapping on the side of his mug.

“Yes and no. I was making a lot of progress with my research back where I was, but… I was also separated from someone very important to me, who happens to be here in Wonderland. I guess for that reason, I’m almost happy to be back.”

Souji nods. He totally gets that. He leans forward on the counter, arms crossed.

"I used to have some friends from home here with me. When they left, it was weird--I was sad that they were gone and wanted to go home to see them, but I knew everything that happened between us here would be gone, so I was sad for that, too."

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you.” Had this conversation happened a couple of years earlier in Carlos’s life, that would have been an awkwardly delivered condolence backed with little understanding of the loneliness Souji must be experiencing. The "bonds" between people weren't his expertise. He wouldn’t have been a good Velvet Room guest.

Present-Carlos, however, is a slightly different story, and his words are charged with sympathy.

“That seems to weigh on a lot of people’s minds- the way we lose our memories when we go home. But I think that they must stay in there somewhere. Maybe our brains forget how to access them, but they’re there, and taking them away doesn't invalidate anything that happens to us.”

Souji wouldn't be able to blame Carlos for any social awkwardness; though he can be quite sociable and even charismatic, he had to learn to care much about others.

"I want to think that you're right about that. I have a promise I have to keep when I get home."

If he can't remember Minato when he gets home, then he can't do anything for him.

“Then I’ll keep you on my list of people to notify when I or someone else has made a breakthrough on that front. At the very least we could at least try to find a way to send our other-universe selves a message containing important information. Like promises to keep, for instance.”

Meal finished and coffee long since gone, Carlos finally stands from the counter. Just talking about work like this makes him feel eager to get back to it.

“Thank you for the food. That was definitely one of the better Christmas meals I’ve had.”

Souji smiles at that, just a bit. He likes having his cooking complimented possibly more than anything else he might be complimented on.

"Come by anytime. I can always use someone to talk with while I'm working." And he will repay you with delicious foods.

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