Song of Ceres - Open!

[cennarian]

Calhoon blinked a few times as Ichigo began to speak at a hundred miles a second. In his travels he'd met a few females who could speak fast, but this girl before him now was by far the mach gab champion.

"Woah, slow down," he said, pressing his finger to her nose to see if it would work as either a pause button or at least slow her down. "The world... is vast. I've seen enough of it to know that there are good things, bad things, and that sometimes things aren't exactly what they seem. And wouldn't Kali-nee-san miss you if you left on an adventure without talking it over with her first?"

He looked at the girl again and adjusted his hat. They'd known each other for all of a minute or two and she was wondering if she could travel with him? He turned and looked at the tree, then at Ichigo again, and decided that the girl was powerful enough to take care of herself, no matter what sort of scrape they got into.

"I suppose you could travel with me," he said after a few moments of silence, "though we should talk with your nee-san first, and wait until morning before making any decisions. After all, if you're going to travel with me you're going to have to prove you can take proper care of yourself and watch your back when I'm not able to."  

[cennarian]

Calhoon's eyebrow twitched as Ichigo referred to him as a Hobo again. He was tempted to ask the girl if she'd ever seen a hobo wearing the leathers he wore as part of his adventurer / traveler / hunter heritage. However, he sighed and nodded. "Name's John Calhoon, but most people call me either Calhoon or Cannonball, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ichigo."

He had to chuckle again when all of what she'd said about her abilities caught up to him. An explosive spell that would make dragons cry? That sounded like it'd be useful, since his spells and gun magic were still in development. And a trouble magnet? He'd left home in search of adventure, and with a trouble magnet nearby he was almost certain to find something to keep him from being bored.  

[cennarian]

Calhoon raised an eyebrow when Ichigo declared she'd call him Cowboy Calhoon. He adjusted the positioning of his fedora, wondering if somehow the girl had confused his tasteful hat with one worn by a bushranger or even a cowboy. He shrugged and followed the girl as she wandered through town towards the temple, chuckling when she said that the old bum, presumably Kali, could preach for so long before falling asleep, and had to wonder if she was either a) long winded or 2) could suck all the oxygen out of the room like a seventh grade science teacher.

"Would you prefer I call you Ichigo-san?" he asked, wondering if that would make her feel old. In truth he added 'miss' as a form of respect for the lady he was speaking with, not as a way to make them feel old.

He crossed his arms behind his head as they walked, his mind wandering back through time and hitting a brick wall. He could recall a few fragments of what happened before the event, but there was nothing whole. That was part of the reason he'd become an adventurer / traveler, to find out the reason for the block to his memories. At that moment he was literally a man without a home who possessed powers that had to have been handed down through the generations.

As night descended upon the city he drew Ixion and pointed it towards the sky. The barrel glowed blue, then green, then red as he infused the weapon with magical energies. He pulled the trigger, his shot splintering into a shower of brilliantly colored fireworks that quickly fizzled out over their heads.  

[cennarian]

Calhoon pondered calling Ichigo 'LIttle Lady', but thought better of that when she mentioned that she thought she'd had a gun in the past, but broke it throwing it at a raccoon. Anybody who could break a gun throwing it at whatever most likely would not take kindly being called little anything.

"Ichigo it is," he said, wondering if the raccoon survived being whacked by a thrown firearm, or if it met the same fate as the handgun, ie. DEAD.

"The kitchen sounds good," he said, realizing just how hungry he was at that moment in time. Bed sounded good as well, but food and introductions to the sister would come first.  

[cennarian]

ooc: Calhoon *looks imploringly at me* Do I have to eat that?

Roll for fortitude.

*sounds of dice clattering on a table*

Calhoon: Are we playing by second edition or third edition rules?

Third edition. Why?

Calhoon: Because I rolled a 20.

You pass your fortitude save. Bon appetite.

IC:

Calhoon raised an eyebrow at Ichigo, wondering where the girl learned to, to use the term loosely, cook. He half wondered why it smelled like fish when it was chicken, herbs, and... vegetables.

"Chicken soup I take it," he said, poking at the chicken with his fork, both eyebrows rising as the baked chicken clucked at him. He shrugged before rising from the table and taking his fedora off. "Why don't you sit tight and let me cook something fit for a king," he said, plopping his hat on Ichigo's head before poking his head into the various cupboards, bins, boxes, etc.

He tied on an apron that was laying around before setting to the task of cooking, a tune of some sort wafting through the air as he hummed while mixing, stirring, cutting, chopping, boiling, etc. A few minutes later he set a meal that was fit for royalty on the table, the aroma of several types of meat, herbs, spices, and vegetables mixing with some pasta that he'd discovered on the top shelf of one cupboard.

"Dinner," he said, taking the apron off before retrieving his hat, "is served."  

[cennarian]

Calhoon raised an eyebrow at the girl who was like a walking black hole. How could someone that little possibly devour nearly two helpings of what she'd cooked plus her own portion of what he'd cooked plus the extra that was available if either one of them had wanted a second portion.

He sat at the table and gnawed on the chicken leg, eyeing the girl across the table. "If you want," he said, "one of these days I can teach you how to cook in a manner that's not from the school of Throw And Go."

He set to eating the pasta, enjoying the aroma and tastes, marvelling at how some of the flavors went well together since there were some herbs and spieces that he'd never cooked with before but smelled good in the cupboard.

"By the way," he said, "you wouldn't happen to know a petit red headed sorceress, would you? I met her in one town a while back and she nearly ate a restaraunt out of business. Something about all she could eat for a silver piece didn't mean eat all there was."  

[cennarian]

Calhoon raised an eyebrow when Ichigo mentioned that the sorceress had taught her a couple of spells.... for a price. He'd seen the types of magic that Lily Innerts could hurl about or even conjur with her little finger, and figured that if the price set someone like Ichigo back three years then she must have either overcharged or taught the girl some of her higher level spells.

He resisted the temptation to ask what she'd been taught in the ways of magic as he washed up their dishes and set them on the counter to dry. He retrieved his hat and followed the still chattering girl through the halls, making a mental map of the building in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. Even a 'cowboy', as Ichigo insisted on calling him, had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he reached out with a little wisp of his power to leave a sort of magical imprint with every corner they turned. At least if he got lost he'd be able to make it to the kitchen, so he'd never starve, though if his hostess was his cook, then there was a slight chance he'd died and gone to hell.

"Shouldn't we check with your onee-chan?" he asked, somewhat anxious to make a good first impression on anybody he met as well as the sister of the local temple. In his brief time of knowing Lily, she'd hammered into his head that priests and priestesses were very important in their business, and that they could turn death into a temporary setback.