BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AU 1

[enigmaster]

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[enigmaster]

...It's fine. [Well, he did feel annoyed before, but now he just feels... weird about it? What's with that.] Just... don't yell in the mornings again. The sun hurts my eyes. [Like, a lot. It sucks.]

[agoodname]

That explains the curtains. [Oswald nods] I'll endeavor to keep my activities to later in the day, then.

[enigmaster]

...Thanks. [The word feels weird to say. All of this is weird.] Well. Rest up, then. [He's gonna... start heading to the door.]

[agoodname]

You too, Edward. Thank you again. [he'll watch him go because that's just what you do sometimes]

[enigmaster]

...Sure. [Yep, okay, he's out. He's gonna go find a good spot to hang and sleep for a while. Have a good rest, Oswald.]

[agoodname]

[he wants to stay awake a bit longer, he really does, but...he's also incredibly exhausted. so he'll fall asleep again on the couch for a while also]

[enigmaster]

[Hope you're having a good rest, Oswald.

When you wake up, there's gonna be an extra blanket over you. Y'know... just... just in case you needed that.

It's cold.]

[agoodname]

[when he wakes, he's significantly warmer than he was the first time he woke up, which even as itself was warmer than he'd fallen asleep. So he has two blankets now.

Which is...

...very sweet, really.

And honestly solidifies his theory that this beast hasn't had much in the way of constant interaction with other people. It would explain he prickliness, and how easy it was to get him to ease up on the wariness. The blankets pool around his waist as he starts to sit up--and he winces again, with a hiss, at the pain in his shoulder and ankle.

It's...better. His ankle doesn't look as swollen, but it still definitely looks a mess. Oswald swings his feet down, putting the barest hint of pressure on it--to which he quickly learns that that is a TERRIBLE idea. He flinches with a slight noise of pain, before sucking in a breath through his nose and rethinking his current endeavor.

Right. The larder and the pantry are probably the first order of business. Then he can worry about choosing a bedroom. After all, he doesn't want to disturb Edward until he needs to, but this is a real concern for his own well-being. Oswald pushes to his feet, slowly, grabbing the crutch and situating it under his arm, starting to hobble his way to the kitchen.]

[enigmaster]

[Well, there's at least some food stored in the kitchen that hasn't been either looted or eaten yet. Maybe not... a lot of it, but at least enough for a bit. Nothing perishable that's still good, of course, but dried supplies.

Additionally, there's... something placed conspicuously out in the open, clearly intended to be noticed.

It's... a freshly killed rabbit.

Not skinned or prepared in any way, but it's there, so. Hey, that's a meal waiting to be prepared, there.

...

It's like a cat leaving a mouse behind...]

[agoodname]

[the food stores are about what he expected. The rabbit, however...not what he expected. He's pleased about it, don't get him wrong but...certainly not what he expected. Well, at least he knows how to deal with this. Lifting the animal up, he's going to find a kitchen towel to wrap the thing in and tuck it under one arm, using his crutch to take himself and it through the pantry and out the back door. It's early evening, but he needs light for this. There are, fortunately, some lanterns back out here, and he manages to locate a couple dusty candles that, with a sniff, reveal themselves to be made out of tallow. Perfect. He gets a couple lanterns going just outside the kitchen door and then one inside. He then sets about creating a place to butcher it--he locates a bucket, some string, and a place to hang the carcass. He also brings several bowls of snow inside to start melting, since he's going to need some water to wash the carcass off several times. He also brings along another bucket full of melted snow so he can put the hide in there to soak. Finally, in deference to his leg, he pulls a stool out from the kitchen to prop his injured leg on while he's working. Once everything is in place, Oswald pulls out his knife and sets about butchering it. This is not his first time doing so nor will it be the last. He works through the steps one at a time, skinning the rabbit and putting it in the bucket of cold water to deal with later, before draining the carcass into the second bucket underneath it and washing it off the first time. Then he sets about gutting it, carefully extracting the kidneys and the liver (though cutting out the bile sack) before letting the rest of the innards fall into the bucket bellow with the drained blood. Then he moves the bucket, using most of the melted snow to wash the carcass out of any other contaminants. Finally, slowly but surely, he pulls everything else back into the kitchen, including the lanterns he used before. He shuts the door, shivering now from the cold, and starting to feel really quite exhausted. He's just spent at least an hour working very hard again and this time in the cold. Not to mention it's well and truly dark now, with all of the light coming from the candles. he sets the washed and drained carcass on the cutting board and allows himself to sit for a moment with a small sigh. He's not done taking care of it yet, but he...needs a break. There's a sweat on his brow and things are looking a little hazy, but...he'll just breathe and try and pull himself together.]

[enigmaster]

[Yeah, since it is dark now, Edward is now up and about. Waking up's a bit slow, since he missed some sleep earlier but. Well. Good enough. So he's just a little sleepy when he notices that there's activity in the kitchen. He doesn't quite enter yet, but he does make his way to the doorway and just... peek inside. What'cha doing, Oswald?]

[agoodname]

[Oswald is...honestly looking a little pale and worn out. He kind of pushed himself a lot with this much physical activity already, even though he's not quite done yet. So it takes him a minute to notice Edward's there. When he does, though, he blinks, and the corner of his mouth quirks slightly, tiredly.] Good evening, Edward.

[enigmaster]

[Edward's first response, upon being noticed, is to recoil back a bit. But after a moment more, he'll... curiously enter the room for real. He's taking a look at the cutting board, looking at Oswald's work.] ...Is it supposed to look like that?

[agoodname]

[He'll let Edward recoil and then come in, before he answers that question]

Well, it's not quite finished yet, but yes. I still have to quarter it and soak the pieces overnight. Then in the morning, I can can some of it, salt some of it, and then hopefully make some rabbit soup for the day with some of it. And tan the hide. It's just one rabbit, and you can't do much with one hide, but waste not, want not and all that.

[enigmaster]

...You can do all of that with it? [He sounds honestly surprised. He's... never really gone beyond the "just eat it raw" stage.]

[agoodname]

[slkdhfslskdf Oswald...can't help the smile that breaks on his face at Edward's incredulity. It's more honest than he means it to be but it comes unbidden]

I can. It should last us a bit longer that way. I know how hard it is to hunt in the winter, so the longer we can make it last, the better off we are.

[enigmaster]

Mhm... It's hard finding rabbits. Or anything, really... [He's... pretty used to a lot of going hungry in the winter. Making food last? What? The way Edward tilts his head is almost comical.] I didn't know you could do all this...

[agoodname]

Well...if you catch another rabbit, I'll be more than happy to show you how it's done start to finish. Then you'll be able to do it yourself as well, once I leave.

[he sucks in a breath, though, and pushes to his feet, slowly]

For now, you can see how I butcher it the rest of the way, if you want, and then tomorrow, after it's soaked, we'll salt, can and cook the rest.

[enigmaster]

...Alright. [Yes. Please show him. He's actually gonna grab a stool and park himself down on it. It's... definitely too small for him, but hey, it's holding him. He just looks a little weird, uh. Perched on it.]

[agoodname]

[...............he is way too big for that stool. But at the same time it's kind of cute????? Oh there it is, that dissonance of horrifying creature and so cute. Right, okay Oswald, focus on the rabbit. He drags the stool over after him, resting his knee on it before getting started] Okay, so I've already removed the guts, which I can't eat but maybe you can, except for the liver and the kidneys here--[and he'll go about explaining the butchering from here, chopping it into manageable pieces and removing the feet (but keeping the back left one and adding it to the hide,) before putting all the meat into a cold water bath] There. Now we let that soak overnight, and handle the pelt. [he sounds...almost winded. And there's a bit of sweat on his brow. And the room might be swaying a bit. Which is why, as he pulls back to relocate, even with the help of his crutch he stumbles slightly, putting weight onto his leg--which immediately goes out from under him as he collapses towards the floor with a pained gasp]

[enigmaster]

[Edward's absolutely fascinated as he watches. This is... very interesting. And maybe useful? It seems like it takes an awful lot of time, but... even so. His head goes up as he notices Oswald stumbles. He moves quick after that, darting off the stool to try and catch him before he's in for a rough landing, maybe.]

[agoodname]

[he's not sure what he expects. Perhaps to hit the floor? There really wasn't time to consider it, to be honest. What he certainly didn't expect was to be caught up in a pair of arms with leathery wings, keeping him from doing a full crash onto the floor. He reflexively reaches out to grab onto Edward, seeing stars behind his eyes as pain laces up his ankle, feeling like it's on fire, throbbing--and he takes several shaky, tight breaths, clinging to Edward as he tries to get his bearings again, trembling a bit with the force of it. That hurt.]

[enigmaster]

[Yeah, it sure looks like it did! Edward's a little surprised at this development himself. He didn't really think about what he was doing, he just reacted. And now here they are. Of course, he can hardly just drop Oswald now. He frowns a little.] ...Maybe you should rest more.

[agoodname]

[Oswald's fingers tighten briefly on Edward's arms, and he's sucking in a hard breath, not really noticing that he's got his forehead pressed against Edward's chest. He's very soft. But Edward will feel him shake his head] No, I...I need to get that pelt washed and out of the water and stretched. It needs to start drying, otherwise...otherwise it'll be ruined. [yeah already his voice is getting weaker, though, even as he says it, and his trembling is becoming more pronounced. Turns out butchering an animal is a lot of work when you're coming off some pretty bad physical trauma.]

[enigmaster]

... [Well, this is not going to work. There's no way Oswald will last long enough. He needs to sleep.] ...It just has to be washed and stretched? [Listen his claws are not... they're not GREAT for most tasks, but. This he should be able to handle, if he's careful???]