The Road Not Taken ◆ Oswald's Intro

It was another beautiful day aboard the Crystalli. Two boys had been baking some sweet treats together in the kitchen most of their waking hours, but the saying had come true. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. So out in the gardens surrounding the guild hall they sat together, cooling off in the breeze with a basket of their less aesthetically pleasing wares that were not suitable for purchase. Theo in particular had been laying back in the coolness of the leaves below him, kept vibrant and healthy by his squad mate and esteemed florist Lester. Apparently too lazy to hold it with his somewhat blistered hands, a icing covered muffin was held in his mouth as he munched the lopsided thing out if its misery.

It was a miracle they'd accumulated anything to sell, given their insatiable appetites. Maybe it was the activity of baking that somehow kept them too busy to devour everything, or maybe even the hardships. Theo was a much worse baker than Lester, so his arms and fingers were dotted with blisters from searing hot pans and oven racks. He'd had the foresight not to wear his full tracksuit, opting for a plain white v-neck top and khaki shorts. His ever present scarf of pale teal was tied around his head, keeping both hair and sweat from threatening what tasty offerings had managed to be successful. Most likely most of the chaos spurred from the unfortunate fact that Theo could no longer read, not even a recipe book unless it had pictures for everything along with the measurements. Sometimes he could figure it out from there, but in this case there were no pictures, so Lester had to guide him especially closely. "You know...I wish I was better at baking. I've never even worked an oven before today," the young man commented with a light laugh, words lightly muffled by the muffin still. Back in his day, just having something to eat was a luxury, and whatever couldn't be made over a campfire was basically useless. Theo was quite used to eating luxurious modern foods, but creating them was a ruin he'd yet to conquer.

"Do you have any...what's that plant for burns? Awoo?" he asked the plant-boy from the ground once the muffin had been inhaled, chewed, and swallowed. His arctic hues examined his hands and arms with a slight frown. They were littered with light scars from both his mercenary days and just the skin wear that came from tomb raiding and being a clumsy guy. A few burns marks wouldn't stand out, but Theo found he much preferred cuts and bruises to blistering burns. Sitting up, he brought his face up to more of Lester's field of view, mouth and chin dotted with white glaze from the muffin. A goofy smile crossed said mouth, unembarrassed knowing in his eyes as he met the familiar watermelon ones. "It isn't awoo, is it, Lester? That sounds dumb..."