A Whole New World (Collector x Hardor)

[Hardor]

Brian paused in his search through the refrigerator and turned to face her as she went through her rant about the obligations of a host to their guest. He had to admit, their was a lot of truth behind her words though the expectations of the period she drew the information from were far different than the ones of the current time period. He nodded his head slightly and flashed her a faint smile, "I understand your point, Lua. Unfortunately, today is a part of the weekend. Which means it is part of a small duration of time that us humans get to basically kick back and relax after a stressful week at work. What that means is after the two days of the weekend are over I will have to return to working from seven in the morning until around five or six in the evening. While that may not seem like much and I'm sure you endured similar working periods back where you came from though I'm sure they were more of recreational activities for you, that means that I will not be in the house during those periods of time." He stated, shutting the fridge for a moment.

"That being said, even if I were to agree to the terms you laid out about the responsibilities of a host, I will not be here during the period of breakfast or lunch, meaning that, for the time being, you will have to learn some way of fending for yourself. Yes, I may be convinced to make dinner as long as we can keep a cool head between us." He said, making eye contact with the drow, "But, as much as I may like to assist you in making breakfast and lunch." Though he certainly wouldn't admit his lack of interest in preparing every meal for her, "I will not always be present to do such a thing. What I can offer you is a place to eat, sleep, and clean yourself whenever you so desire as well as a constant supply of food." He stated, "But I cannot and will not hire a cook due in part because of the hefty cost it would be to acquire every scrap of food for every meal they'd like to create as well as the even higher cost it would require to keep them quiet about the rather interesting guest I have in my care." He said, gesturing to her, "After all, it's not often we encounter.." He paused, frowning slightly, "I'm sorry, what did you say your race was again? Not to be offensive but I seem to have forgotten." He said, reaching a hand up to brush at the back of his hair in a half embarrassed manner.

He paused for a moment as he waited for her answer and then went on with his little rant, "And I'd rather not give any individual reason to question you or, heaven forbid, attempt to experiment on just what you are since we've been known to do a hell of a lot worse." He said, rolling his eyes as he thought back to some of the major screw ups his race had been known for over their rather brief existence, "Now, I'll ask you again in the least rude manner I can think of.. What would you like to eat? I'm not asking you to prepare it yourself but given your highly educated state I'm assuming you're a rather quick learner and the making of some eggs should come as child's play to you." He decided to play upon the females idea of superiority this time around, bragging her up in hopes that she'd be more compliant to learning how to make her own food if he was nice enough to send a few complimentary words her way. Brian knew there was little reason for the duo to cause friction at every turn, finding it a tad bit easier to simply attempt at starting things off on a better foot this time around.

Her response brought a slight nod from him, a hand moving up to brush against his shaved chin, "Hmmmmm.. Well.. I'm sure we can find some sort of image for you to mimic. Though, the main thing we really need is you to change your skin tone." He stated, glancing at her up and down, "The ears.. Well they're slightly abnormal but my cleaning lady isn't the most observant when it comes to those things so odds are we could pass those off as a slight birth defect." He stated, lifting his hands once more in an almost defensive stance, "Once again, no offense." He breathed out, remembering her sensitivity when it came to those ears of hers, "But we can drudge up some images on the internet or a picture from a magazine around here somewhere for you to imitated if that would be easier for your.. Illusions?" He breathed, the word seeming rather odd to the human given their lack of illusion weaving in the world he was accustomed to.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

"And I am not asking you to hire a professional cook or disrupt your work on my behalf," said Lua, indignant. "That would be poor behavior for a guest in deed! All you need do is provide me with food that I may consume throughout the day until you return to provide dinner. Leave out dried meats on the dining room table; perhaps a bowl of fruit, some wine and some cheese? That should be more than enough to keep me satisfied until dinnertime."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as he mentioned forgetting what her race was called. "I am drow," she said. "Do try to pay attention."

She frowned, but nodded when he said that she was intelligent enough to learn to cook. While it was true, since cooking was just applied chemistry, she had far better things to do with her time. For one thing, she could start documenting her observations about the world around her. It had been millenea since the last drow had had a chance to explore an entirely different world, and Lua's academic mindset refused to let her go home without extensively recording her time here. And that was part of it, really: she still assumed that she was going home. True, no drow had successfully traveled between worlds since they were driven underground, but she still felt like she'd find a way. She didn't know how, but she'd convinced herself she'd return home somehow.

"Hmm... I suppose a boiled egg or two would be a nice way to start the day off," she said. "And I'm not sure what bacon is, but those strips of meat look like they'd taste decently if cooked." She indicated the bacon. "Do you have any bread I could have to accompany the meal? I like mine toasted with butter, though I prefer to spread the butter myself. And while I appreciate the compliment, I will not stoop so low as to prepare my own food; you might not respect my position, but I am still royalty. I will, however, observe you cooking at multiple times and record my thoughts on the matter for posterity's sake."

She gave him a blank look when he mentioned the internet and magazines; while her translation spell worked for things that she had a reference for, it could not translate words or concepts that simply did not exist in her world. "I'm not sure to what you're referring," she said, frowning. "Listen, all I need is a decent portrait, preferably a full-body portrait, of a human woman and I'll be able to create an image for myself based off of it. And when I say portrait, I mean a realistic one and not one of those absurd "abstract" monstrosities that have been circulating the art scene lately. It needs to be something that is as realistic as possible. Preferably a nude."