You Know I'm Good For It

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

Nate wanted to get as much as he possibly could out of his visit to the Hollowed Grounds, and part of that included a visit to the Artists Sanctuary. He had spent a few days prior flexing old culinary muscles, and while he still wasn't quite happy with his last batch, they would be fine for Bastien. The flavours might be slightly off, but it wasn't as if he, or the other man would be able to tell.

Despite the fact that the Sanctuary could not be any more obvious, Nate still managed to miss it on his first pass by, and had to circle back. Once he found it though, he strode in like he'd been invited, casting a curious look up the stairs before stepping into the guild properly. He didn't call out quite yet, half curious, and half convinced someone would come and find him before he could get into any trouble.

The wrapped package he had brought with him was deposited on one of the tables, Nate almost absently wandering around, taking everything in. He'd only been here for parties before, and it was quite a different space when it wasn't all dressed up. All manner of brushes and paints lined the shelves along the walls, and he found himself drawn towards them, fingers trailing over the bits and bobs.

NATE

BASTIEN

Bastien was having a somewhat lazy day, reading in bed a book he had gotten from the market, one that claimed to tell the stories of art within the Hollowed Grounds since the barrier had been erected; he'd found it an utter bore, lacking in any real context or depth, but it was the best this place seemed to have, so he'd stuck with it for the moment.

He thought he heard someone come through the door but with no yell, didn't pay it much mind; the studio was advertised as always open after all, and it was not totally unheard of for people to come in and paint throughout the day. Going back to his book, he tried to keep reading, but found that his mind much rather wanted to stray downstairs, wonder who it was: he couldn't hear Pittore excitedly chattering away, so they had to be being quiet.

Sitting up and putting the book down (not bothering to mark his place) he stood up and began to descend down the stairs, carefully going slowly and quietly so he could peak around them and through the door to see who had entered without giving away his presence.

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

Perhaps he should have made some kind of plan in advance, sent some warning to the guild ahead of him, so he wouldn't be waiting in the dim Sanctuary, unsupervised. It's interesting though, and Nate can't find it in him to really break it yet, too interested in the materials all over. It can't last forever though, and he doesn't expect it to.

He had just picked up a small metal case, smaller than his palm by a large margin, when he felt a prickle at the back of his neck, the faintest feeling of eyes on him. Nate turns, hands dropping, the case palmed easily, more out of habit than anything else. But when he sees it's Bastien peeking in at him, Nate can't help the grin, the way he immediately forgets what he's holding, and slips it into his pocket to be worried about later, so he has both hands free to present his fellow ascended with a tightly wrapped basket.

"I was hoping to find you." Nate exclaims as he crosses back towards the entrance of the Sanctuary, wide grin on his face. "I've got a gift."

NATE

BASTIEN

Bastien didn't notice in his relief that it was Nate that his friend had slipped away one of their guild's precious items; he simply walked forward with an easy smile, stopping to light a couple of the candles on the way there so the room was a little more illuminated. As the lights came on it would be very noticeable he was wearing only a very thin pair of pants, but he didn't seem to care.

"Ah, what is this!" He asked delightedly, taking the basket in his own hands and tilting it from side to side. With a gasp, he remembered their conversation in Haulani and grinned at Nate over the basket. "Oh, you didn't! Could it be...? I must set us a table." Handing the basket back to Nate for the moment he busied himself finding a paint-covered cloth to cover a table in the studio, two chipped plates: a very bohemian setting.

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

To his credit, it wasn't an intentional thievery. It's the kind of thing he'll find in his pocket, back in Torchline, feel like an asshole about, but then never rectify. Nate steps forward to meet Bastien, his hand outstretched in the offer of a shake, seemingly unaffected by the little the other man was wearing. Really, the other ascended could be naked and Nate didn't think he'd bat an eye. Then he remembers, oh wait, he has seen Bastien naked, at least most of the way.

The other man takes the basket from him, the grin on his face only fuelling the bright one on Nate's. "C'mon, I'm a man of my word. And I figured I might as well, before Longnight." And he'd been in the Grounds anyway, might as well make the social call while he could, since he didn't plan on being back for a while. The basket is handed back to him while Bastien bustles around, a table set in something that feels surprisingly cozy. Nate sets the basket down again, unwrapping ti while he does, revealing a mound of fried dough balls, somehow still slightly warm, not that it would matter.

"I overspiced them a little, so they actually almost taste like something." He jokes, unwilling to admit how much effort he'd actually put into the dish. He'd settled on something that he could taste though, even if it had almost made Sunjata choke, so it would have to be enough.

NATE

BASTIEN

"A man of your word? Hm. You know, that is not quite what I have heard." Bastien teased, the smile on his face showing that he was not seriously trying to accuse Nate of anything. Still, he was well aware of gossip, and there was quite the bit surrounding the Doctor.

Seeing the dough balls Bastien clapped a hand to his heart, clearly thrilled. "Ah..! They could have come from my favourite bakery on Pizzale Roma!" While his sense of smell was dulled, what little he could make out was enough to almost transport him momentarily right back to Venice, a little hit of nostalgia that brought a wide smile to his face.

Laughing at Nate's comment on overspicing he reached for one of the balls, bringing to his nose and taking a long smell as close as he could before he bit in. As with all food when Ascended, it was a little like tasting something from three rooms over, but it was still a taste of home and he shut his eyes with a wide smile. "Fantastic. Have you considered opening a bakery?"

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

Hearing the tease from Bastien had a brow rising, a scandalized look on Nate's face. "I never thought you'd stoop to getting your information from rumours!" He teases back, settling into the makeshift seats the Guild master had set out for them.

When he'd been taught to cook, it had been in a hot, hot kitchen, with an overbearing presence and a wooden spoon hovering over his back. He'd been told it would be worth it one day, seeing the joy of something he'd made spread over someone else's face, and for the first time, he saw it, in the joy on Bastien's. "Now you're just flattering me." Nate hums easily, waiting for the other man to take the first dough ball, the first bite.

And once the other man had taken his bite, Nate digs in, his mouth full when a compliment comes his way. He can't choke, can't really taste the food, so he simply swallows down the too big bite and aims a bright smile at his dinner companion. "I'm not nearly that good." He protests, hands up. "I'm glad you like them though."

NATE

BASTIEN

"Nathaniel darling, I survive on rumours." Bastien laughed, thinking it rather obvious that he was the kind of person who enjoyed a good bit of gossip. Still, he was finding that his own formed opinion on Nate was improving far more than he'd ever expected it to from what he'd heard.

Bastien happily ate away, finding that the taste, while dull, was best when it was immediately there in his mouth for a moment. In the first second it almost felt normal, as if he was back home; it was odd, the nostalgia. Sometimes he felt guilty for it, for wanting to return when he had made himself a new life here. "Do you ever wish you could return? To Earth, your old life?"

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

Nate leans into the joke, the tease easily, his grin only widening. "Is that how you get to look like that?" He lets his eyes roam cheekily down Bastien's body, flicking back up with a light shrug, an easy roll of his shoulders. "Maybe I should look into changing up my diet." Bastien was far easier to get along with than he'd assumed, even the moment's of pompousness more fun than anything. Even if it meant being in the Grounds again, he couldn't regret this visit in the least.

He would be glad to settle into the silence of eating, Nate's mind wandering just a little, back to the items he'd seen on the shelf, almost coming to the one accidentally sequestered in his pocket before the artist spoke again, distracting him away. "Sometimes. Not as much now as I did in the beginning." There's a short laugh that comes with it, another easy shrug. "I've built a lot more here than I'd ever have the chance to build back there." He takes another bite, chewing it thoughtfully, then leans in. "Do you wish you could go back?"

NATE

BASTIEN

Bastien laughed, pleased at the compliment, though he thought Nathaniel of all people had to know how it was he kept his figure. "In Venice I just spent a lot of time running and hanging off of things between eating whatever I liked...here, since I Ascended, it has been far easier to maintain my waistline. Blood and fluid don't seem to move it, hm?" He bit into the dough ball then, closed his eyes. "Though, I do miss real food. It is worth it's consequences."

He was proud of the items he'd collected that made up the decoration of the Artist's Sanctuary and kept quiet to give Nate a chance to admire them; it was interesting how things here were just different enough from his home to still be foreign sometimes, the handles of a vase at an odd angle or a painting convention just a touch different.

"What chances did you have back where you were?" Bastien asked, not aware of what Nate's circumstances had been before Caido. "As for me...oh, I don't know. I suppose I do, but I'd like to take Rexanna and Pittore and some of the things I've made and learnt here with me. Perhaps it's greedy, but I'd love to be within travelling distance of Venice here, so I could have both."

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

The laugh that leaves Nate is loud, filling the room. "I almost wish I'd known I was going to stay the same for the rest of eternity." He jokes easily, patting his belly and raising a brow. "I might have put a little more work in before speaking to the Voice."

Where Bastien might be able to see familiar pieces, everything that lined the walls of the sanctuary was foreign to Nate, never one for the arts, the finer things, as he'd mentioned their last conversation. Maybe that made it easier to swallow, a place entirely new, instead of just close enough to be painful.

"I had some medical schooling, but I was bogged down by... a lot of things outside of my control." It was the easiest way to describe the twisted tangle of loans and favours he owed, deals he was a part of by blood, and his own stupid mistakes. Though he did throw Bastien a bone, a little more explanation. "My father had a very specific life in mind for me, and didn't mind forcing me to follow it, when he could."

Bastien's answer is a little strange to Nate, a little difficult to understand. There were things he missed, sure, things he might want for now, but when it came down to it, there was nothing that could make him give up what he had now. The living he'd done in Caido in just under a few years blew nearly everything he'd done on Earth out of the water. But he offers the other man a smile, an understanding nod. "I'm sorry you had to lose things to be here."

NATE

BASTIEN

"Ah, but my friend, you are attractive. A man's weight does not truthfully matter: it is all in the face and the charm, and you positively leak charm." A lot of Bastien's job had once been identifying charisma for his performers and acts: he would have taken Nate up in an instant.

When Nate revealed it had been his father that had caused many of his issues back home, Bastien gave a wise nod. "Aah. Is that not the way, so often? My own father yearned for me to be a rose tender, like he had been: 'Bastien', he would say, 'our family earned our name working hard on the rose gardens of Paris - you would throw that away'?" The impression of his father was a gruff, accented voice, one that was almost comic but Bastien looked too genuinely morose for the joke to land. "...What was it your father had in mind?"

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams

You win a lot, but you lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end

The compliment has Nate preening, an easy grin on his face and a smug cant to the way he lifts his chin in response. "My face and my charm have gotten me far." He agreed, a hand coming up to stroke at his jaw, before he took another bite of the fried ball in his hand, a smile on his face.

"Paris and Venice?" Nate whistles lowly, a little jealous of how well travelled the other man is. "I never left my neck of the woods, really. It must've been nice to stretch your wings, explore who you were." There's a hum of jealousy in his voice, though it's well enough hidden behind the concern, noticing how the words weren't really a joke, and understanding almost immediately. "My old man wanted me to join the military at first, to really follow in his footsteps. Said between me and my brother, I had more of the stomach for it."

It's Nate's turn  to let his face drop, a grin still lingering on his lips, despite the melancholy dripping from everything else. "I failed out of training though, and then my brother died, and he suddenly had just me to take over his business. He did... security, kind of. And he tried hard to get me more involved."

NATE

BASTIEN

"I can see why. It is a handsome face and you are indeed, very charming." Bastien replied with a slightly flirtatious smile. "If we were back home, I would take you to visit the gardens of Paris, the canals of Venice: it would be glorious." He'd often taken loves-of-the-week on trips like that, talking about everything and nothing as they drifted down romantic strolls. Nate would make a very nice temporary obsession, he thought.

Gosh, the food and wine really were having him act like a silly old fool.

Letting out a 'bah!' at the idea of joining the military, he gave an approving nod of Nate's dropping out; though it sounded like he had not gone into a much better life after that. "I am sorry about your brother. Security, though..." A smirk appeared on Bastien's lips. "Why do I feel like that's a euphemism?"

We're aware they're trying to take away our dreams