Greek Feast [open]

[Luke Pyrrhos]

The sun was shining brightly in Luke's eyes, warming his heart and soul, the sky was bright blue with only a speck or two of clouds to be seen, the temperatures in the high sixties, a record breaker from the average forty-somethings they'd been having for about a month now. People were out and about, chattering more than average, probably high on their vitamin D. With people and weather like this, it could be just like Greece! And of course, before you think of anything, Luke already had an idea up his sleeve. He'd been wanting to do something of the like for quite some time, but never got around to it, busying himself with other things. Nothing would stop him today, though. He took a look over his fliers one more time before tacking them to all of the bulletin boards that he could find, whether in the student lounges, or by sneaking into the teachers lounge for a brief minute, just to leave a copy near the coffee machine. He handed out the few other ones he had to random students in the hall, and once he was out of fliers, he went to work in preparing his part of it. He had already got some of those little flags, bought some plastic silverware, plates, bowls and cups, in the traditional colors of blue and white, got his old cds of his theíos (uncle)'s recordings of live performances from festivals that Luke had brought with him from the move over from Greece, brought his mp3 player and stereo system that would work for both cd and mp3 players, and now all that was left was the food!

His grandmother wouldn't let him leave Greece without a bit of cooking under his belt. And although it was generally a woman's role in Greece to do the cooking, after the men spent the entire day fishing or gathering food and supplies, she still thought it would be good for him to be able to make some 'food of quality' instead of eating all that rubbish fast food she assumed all Americans ate. Ah, his giagiá made him smile all the time when he thought of that spicy yet tender old and beautiful woman who raised him more than his own mother. If only he could go back there and see her once more...

But he would get as close as he could today, and perhaps if there was yet another cold spell upon them, he'd make up some excuse and go out to see her, just for a day or two. He'd fish with his pappoús (grandpa) and theíos all day in the sun, then return home to his giagiá's cooking. Αχ, αυτή είναι η ζωή! Now to get to cooking.. he had a list of what he wanted to make for everyone...but how much? Hoping that at least a few others would come, and bring dishes or beverages of their own, he figured he should cook for seven. Just in case. In the case that no one did come, at least he'd have all this delicious food to fill his belly for days, and no shame in that. Luke peered at the list, and read it out, written by his giagiá in Greek:

Συνταγές

Ntolmádes giaprákia me kimá
Baklavás
Mousakás
Ellinikos kafes
Horiatiki salata


That would be enough to start off with. It would definitely give people a taste of his beautiful homeland, that's for sure. Now off to the shared kitchen to start all of this.

[Clarity Ryder]

Clarity;; ♥

Clarity thought that this could possibly be one of the best days ever. The sun was out, but it wasn't too hot, and everyone was completely content to leave her alone in the courtyard, and by the pond. Early in the day she had found a flyer, looking curiously at it, and taking it down from the board where it rested next to another of the same flyer. She had found good food hard to come by when she was living practically by herself, in the dorms. She thought that maybe, just maybe, this could be a very good idea.

Now, as she stood a few feet away and stared at the bounty the boy had just then laid out in front of her, feeling absolutely horrible and out-of-place for only bringing some cranberry juice pops in a mini cooler, she started to reconsider. This would require socializing, not exactly Clarity's strong suit. Her stomach growled loudly, and she blushed. As long as she was already here, she figured she may as well eat something. She could stammer her way through one meal, right? The food had to be worth it.

If for nothing else then the baklava, she took three steps forward, until she was only inches away from the feast.

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Luke swung his arms around and squinted up at the sky. He though of Zorba, the wonderful man that he'd like to become one day, a man of his own country. Luke considered starting to prance around much like he'd seen be doen at the end of that movie, with the traditional Greek music, along with a trusty companion to share his joy with. The only part was that there was not companion, at least not yet. Luke was holding on to that last sliver of joy and of free time that he'd be able to share this bountiful amount of delicious food with someone, or hopefully, many happy students, a few profs, and even some passerbys. For some reason, Luke always had grand dreams for his events, but in reality, they usually flopped. Why was this? Were people somehow in this vast and expanse and complex universe somehow perplexed by his personality? Did he draw people away from himself? Certainly, he had no intention of that whatsoever, quite the opposite really. In that case, it made him look like quite the fool, but you'd be damned to hear those words come out his own mouth.

Dropping his arms to his side, Luke drew his attention back towards the here and now, to the picnic tables he'd dragged over from other areas of the lawns, filled with a few large party plates of food each, homemade from family recipes. It would be a sure shame to see it all go to waste... But not all was lost it seemed. Indeed! A young girl had taken interest in one of the tables, and with her were some other food items as well. Almost shouting with joy, Luke popped up to help her with her things. "Aha! Hello there," he greeted the girl as he gently took the mini cooler from her, setting it on one of the benches behind her and handing her a plate. "Did you just see this passing by or through my flyers? I'm Luke by the way." With a wink and a grin, Luke stuck his hand out to shake hers. From there, he continued, "You're the first and most lucky person yet to come here. Which means you've got first dibs of everything. So go ahead, dig in!"

[Christina Byrne]

Christina looked at her outfit in the mirror. She was a mess of pink and white today, but she didn't seem to notice that it was overkill. She liked it the way it was. Pink dress, pink and white socks, dirty old white shoes that looked more gray now, pink necklace, white Pandora bracelet, pink and white feather earrings, and white flower in her hair. She smiled and skipped over to her bed that contained her new bag, flier for the Greek Feast she'd picked up earlier that day, and the food she'd made for the feast. She went online and looked up desserts and found a Greek apple cake that she didn't remember the name of and couldn't pronounce even if she did. Christina didn't have a clue of Mediterranean food, but she was able to follow a recipe well.

She carried these things out of her room and down the steps, out of the building. She hoped she wasn't going to show up at the feast and no one would be there. It would be her luck to have not gotten the memo that it was canceled or that the time on the flier had been wrong or something. Things like that seemed to happen to young Christina all the time. But no, to her luck, she approached the pond and there were already two people there. Not many, but it was enough that she didn't look stupid for arriving there alone. The table of food was set up with a few delicious-looking options already, so she set her cake down and looked at the two already there.

The girl.... She remembered that girl. The water balloon fight! They'd met after being the victims of Ginny and the math teacher dropping water balloons out of a classroom window and hitting them. They'd both gone up for revenge and... well... here they were. Clarity was the name, if she recalled correctly.

The boy, though, she'd never seen before. He seemed to be the one that was running the feast. The two were already talking, so Christina walked up tentatively and waved to no one in particular, not sure how she should handle this. Interrupting would be rude, but maybe they'd think her odd to not say anything or introduce herself. Deciding she'd rather seem weird than rude, the blonde girl looked at the ground, digging her toe into the grass, and fidgeted with the strap of her bag.

- Christina's outfit -

[Jemima Rennal]

Though Jemima was normally a relatively quiet girl who kept to herself in fear of blurting out something about giardiasis, or other unsavoury topics, the second she saw the fliers involving a Greek feast she'd nearly fallen over herself to attend. Though she didn't know TOO many recipes, she had made the effort, and held under her arms a Spetsofai she'd made herself in the dorm kitchen, and a bag of Loukoumades. With her hair pulled back so it didn't get in any of the food, she gave a cheery wave to the small gathering.

Anyone who knew Jem knew she craved Greek food like mice crave cheese. Setting her offerings down, she offered a hand out to shake brightly, first to Luke who was standing by the tables and clearly organised the event. "γειά σου!" She greeted hopefully, slightly worried her pronunciation was off. Picking at the tassles on her shorts, she similarly toed the floor and chewed her lip. "I brought these, they're probably not as good as anything you'd make but it's better than nothing. Unless it's really bad. Then it's worse." She was already talking too much in fear that she wouldn't say enough, and she pressed her lips together to seal any more words from coming out.

"Hello anyway. My name is Jemima but I prefer Jem because everyone makes syrup jokes and it makes me want to scream." She frowned a little, then set her bag on the floor, hovering round the food. "This smells fantastic, did you make this all yourself?" She added, gravitating towards the moussaka with her saliva glands going like mad. Swallowing away the drool in her mouth, she took a slice and chomped down, letting out a little moan of delight. God how she loved the Grecian food, it felt so healthy and warming with all that Mediterranean sunshine baked into it.

"Some food is said to simulate pleasure, giving the same endorphins you would while having sex." Jem stated abruptly, after a long silence. "I think this is the food they're talking about." She took another bite and beamed, then realized she'd blurted something weird out again, and scrubbed the back of her neck. "Uh. Forget I said anything." She mumbled, leaning against the nearest tree and looking off into the distance, brain now switching to daydreaming of a hot Greek summer, with a prince riding along on a horse.

Jem began zoning out.

[Clarity Ryder]

Clarity;; ♥

Clarity attempted a smile and held up a flyer. It was explanation enough, she supposed. All she said in response to anything he said was, "Clarity. Thank you." And she began to gather food onto a plate. She did not like being the first one there. Then, a blonde girl appeared at the table, waving to one of the two students gathered there. Clarity recognized her, and her eyes opened wider for a moment as she thought of the water fight. That was the most embarrassing thing that had happened in a month, but it was also the most exciting, and the most fun.

When the other girl--Jemima, er, Jem--appeared and began speaking, Clarity felt relief that she was not the sole focus of this boy anymore. Then, she felt hot when her face flushed, and she stared at Jem, thinking, What the heck did she just say? Her fork was frozen halfway between her plate and her face, and she scooped a large amount of food into her mouth and diverted her eyes, feeling bad for staring. After all, she knew how it was to say the wrong thing and be stared at, why be a hypocrite?

[Christina Byrne]

Christina sighed in relief as another girl showed up, someone to talk to. The girl, Jem, said something in what she presumed was Greek. She seemed like the type to ramble a lot, but Christina didn't mind that so much. She walked over to the table and put some food, whatever it was, on a plate for herself. It looked good, so she took a bite of it. There didn't seem to be anywhere to sit that suited her. She preferred to sit places where her feet dangled, and she didn't think sitting on a table would be something the others there would be okay with.

Jemima introduced herself, and the young blonde immediately thought of syrup. Jem said she didn't like syrup jokes, but Christina couldn't help herself. "So if I don't mention syrup, am I free to call you Pancake?" She laughed slightly, hoping she hadn't offended the girl, but at the same time knowing she wouldn't have taken it back if she could have.

The girl took a bite of food, a huge mouthful, and "Some food is said to simulate pleasure, giving the same endorphins you would while having sex." Christina looked at her curiously and leaned against the table. The girl seemed embarrassed that she'd just said that, but now that it was out, she couldn't take it back. That is, until she said to forget what she'd just said. Christina tipped her head to the side in question. "Really? You'd think that wouldn't be possible, considering one you're getting pleasure from the tastebuds and the other it's well... Not from your tastebuds." She took another bite of food, not at all embarrassed. Her family had never been one to hide anything, so topics like sex weren't restricted or anything to be embarrassed about in their household.

[Luke Pyrrhos]

With the arrival of one came two more lovely ladies, varying in age and height, but gorgeous all the same. The first girl to introduce herself was Clarity. Average height, long brown hair, and a friendly smile. The next girl to arrive looked a wee bit younger, smaller, with fair blonde hair, and a shy smile. She arrived with food in hand, but a little too shy to approach Clarity and Luke so she stood there, digging her foot into the soft ground. Luke took this as an opportunity to let Clarity dig into whatever she pleased, as he smiled and went to approach the other girl, shaking her hand and welcoming her to the feast. "Hey there, little lady. Thanks for coming." He inhaled, breathing in the strong smells of mediterranean cuisine. "That smells wonderful, what did you make by chance? Are you Greek too?" Luke sometimes got a little too excited when he found that people could make Greek food, and make it well. Sometimes he believed that the only way that could happen is if there was some Greek lineage in their bloodline. "Set that wherever you'd like, and enjoy everything we've got here today. By the way, if you need anything, I'm Luke, just call my name out, and I'll be there." With a wink and a smile, Luke turned his attention to the next person who came to the feast, yet another beautiful girl. Boy was he in luck today.

She seemed altogether happy and peppy, striding along with a pan of some meat and vegetable dish in tow. She introduced herself to him before he even had the chance to do so himself, an interesting mix-up. She mentioned that she brought Spetsofai, and even greeted him in Greek. Now perhaps she was indeed Greek! "Καλώς ήρθατε!" He met her halfway to the table, took her tray from her, and set it on the nearest open spot on one of the three picnic tables. Turning back to her, he stuck out his hand in warm welcoming and said, now in English, "I'm Luke, nice to meet you Jem not Jemima. What if I called you Mim? Has anyone thought of that nickname yet?" He smiled and chuckled, letting her get some food too.

Now that everyone had a chance to get something to eat, Luke went to the cooler, pulled out some cranberry pops and asked, "Anyone thirsty?" He placed a few on the table, and then looked over at Mim as she made an exaggerated sound when she took a grand bite of something on her plate. He smiled in approval, as this must have been a good sign that someone made something delicious. Moans were a good thing from time to time. But what made it even better was what happened next. Mim seemed to be a girl who really didn't think too much before she said something, which was all the much better and helpful for humor in a conversation. Take for example her statement of relating food to sex. Now that's what Luke was talking about, although he hadn't thought of mentioning anything of the like in front of the younger girls, but nope, Mim didn't seem to mind. He laughed at her comment, and shook his head, "So I've heard. Oysters, chili peppers and chocolate are the usual ones, but none of that in any of the food I made, how about you girls?" He gestured over to the other two girls that were presently either staring at Mim or trying not to laugh at the comment. "But I'll take that as a compliment to my fine cooking skills that you'd get that excited over it." He laughed and winked at Mim before going to grab a plate for himself. Perhaps he really had outdone himself this time.

[Christina Byrne]

Christina smiled widely when Luke introduced himself to her, grateful that she wasn't being ignored. She looked up at him brightly and stopped digging her toes into the ground. "I'm Christina Byrne. I made apple cake. I don't remember the name, sorry. I just looked it up online... I'm not sure if I have any Greek in me. I'm from Georgia, but I never really asked about my ancestors or relatives. My grandma moved here from somewhere, but I'm not sure where. She's really into cooking, so whenever I visit or she visits, we cook together." Christina realized she was rambling in response to his question and slapped a hand over her mouth, physically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to waste your time with some kind of life story. Nice to meet you, Luke." She laughed nervously. It was an odd sort of day, wasn't it? This particular girl hardly ever felt shy, yet now she felt as though everyone was looking at her and it made her feel like she needed to hide.

After scooping up the last of the little bit of food she'd put on her plate, Christina put a small bit of a different kind of food on it. "No thanks, Luke." She smiled brightly and took another bite. When the boy responded to Pancake (as she'd officially started thinking of Jemima as) in the same manner as herself, she was glad that she was not the only one that wasn't the least bit fazed by it. His question about food made her think of all the times she'd cooked with her grandma back in Georgia. Pies, cakes, elaborate dinners, puddings, casserole... She'd always been quite proud of her work and how it came out, but she'd never thought that maybe it was her grandmother that made them good. This was the first time Christina had made a new recipe all on her own. A bit worried now she began walking to where she'd set her cake and set some of it on her plate.

"You food is really good, Luke. Be proud of it." The young girl spoke with a smile and slowly lifted a piece of her dessert to her mouth, hoping with all her might that it tasted as good as she'd heard it was and that she hadn't brought something no one would eat.

[Jemima Rennal]

"Pancake? I can live with that. It makes me think of that internet meme, you know, the one that goes "I have no idea what you just said, so here's a bunny with a pancake on it's head", so I'm good." Jem smiled brightly and continued forking the delicious moussaka into her mouth with gusto. Dabbing her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked over to Luke and beamed at him, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Not Greek I'm afraid, but I do love the food. And the culture. My parents took me there when I was 6, and the restaurant in town is my favourite." She moved a hand through her hair then continued munching on the free food, being ever the most gracious lady and nodding her thanks at a cooler, sipping it thirstily. "Mim? I've had Mimi but never Mim. I like it." Jem concluded with a smile, flopping down on the grass by one of the tables and finishing off the moussaka, letting the Greek vibes wash over her as though she were sat on a sandy beach instead of in the Hammel grounds. It was pretty easy to imagine since the weather was so nice, and the smell of food was all up in her nose.

"Well, actually, both sex and food create similar chemicals, it's the brain that produces the emotions and feelings, via receptacles in the nerves." She paused, realising she was sounding horrendously know-it-allish already. "So vagina, penis or tongue, the pleasure sense is the same, it's just one ends up... with sexual discharge and the other creates saliva." Halting in her little speech, she took another slice of food and picked at it, cheeks glowing a little bit. She was reminding herself why she should keep quiet at all times, but she just couldn't stop her mouth from opening up once more. "Apparently passion fruit and various other foods have the same reaction, but I think the food is wonderful." Her voice quietened down, and she nibbled on the end of her fork, instead deciding to listen to everyone else's conversation, a smile on her face.

[Luke Pyrrhos]

"Maybe that's why they call it passionfruit, because it causes passion." The last word held much more of his native accent than the other words in the sentence. Perhaps because that's what Greeks were all about, and no, not just that kind of passion. Everything they did, they did with passion. Look at history: architecture, sculpture, inventions, philosophy, engineering, mathematics, food, and of course, amore. Passion was the language of the Greeks, not Greek. Or at least that's the way he looked at it.

She sure was a smart one, this Mim. Still pretty much a stranger to him, Mim was able to spurt out globs of facts about the most peculiar things, but that was a quirk, in a sense, and he found it amusing. Who knew he was actually going to learn something about this sort of stuff at a feast like this. Life was full of surprises, wasn't it? "So tell me then, how does your brain decipher where you're going to have your orgasm then? If you eat a ripe, red strawberry covered in dark chocolate, who is to say you'll be oohing and ahhing with your mouth or with, well the rest of your body?" He was well aware of what the rest of his or her body was called, but for Luke, he really didn't just go shouting dick or vajayjay all over the place. It was just an understood faction of him that he usually shared with the other person, and they would commence in whatever they wanted to without having to get all technical, if that made any sense at all. Still, he actually wanted to know the answer to this one. He was sure she had the answer hidden somewhere in that noggin of hers.

Waiting for her response, Luke helped himself to the moist and rather fragrant apple cake that Christina, the small girl, had brought with her. It was a Greek recipe she swore, but whatever nationality this scrumptious looking dessert was, he would still eat it. He loved cakes, as gluttonous as that sounded, but he didn't hold a Greek Feast for no reason. Cutting himself a slice of the cake, grabbing a fork and taking a big bite of the cake, Luke closed his eyes as he savored each and every flavor and texture of the cake. It was certainly moist, as if dripping in honey, the apples with their hint of cinnamon cooked at just the right temperature, and for just the right amount of time. Everything seemed to work together in perfect, blissful harmony. Boy, did this girl know how to cook, or at least, bake. Letting out a stuffed face of a smile, Luke said across the picnic table, "My little Christine, you make the most scrumptious of cakes. I have not had such a delicious cake in a very long time. Your grandmother would be very proud of you." He gave her a thumbs up and went for seconds, but this time, taking a smaller slice, it wouldn't be nice of him if he ate the whole cake now would it?

[Christina Byrne]

Laughing at what Pancake had said about the internet meme, Christina nodded. "Pancake it is." She thought about what the girl said about food and sex next for a few minutes. It couldn't possibly make sense, could it? She had to laugh a little when she stepped back to think that within minutes of beginning the feast, they were relating food to sex. It really was quite comical. "I've never had a passionfruit... It seems like it makes sense though. Though sex doesn't always mean passion, of course." Christina took another bite of her cake and thought this over. Before she could voice her next thought, Luke did. "So tell me then, how does your brain decipher where you're going to have your orgasm then? If you eat a ripe, red strawberry covered in dark chocolate, who is to say you'll be oohing and ahhing with your mouth or with, well the rest of your body?" For a moment, she had to wonder if he wasn't saying the words, as Pancake had, for the sake that she was there and only thirteen. Ignoring that thought, she asked a question as well.

"But like. If they produce the same chemicals, then wouldn't the get the same result? I've never heard of someone literally orgasming from eating, and I don't think most people salivate when they have sex. So what makes it different? Why don't penises and vaginas respond when you eat really good food?" Christina wasn't at all sure that Pancake would have the answers to these questions, but they were valid points in her mind.

When Luke took a slice of her cake, she got nervous. What if he hated it? What if he hated it so obviously no one else wanted to even try it. He took a bite and she couldn't hide her worry. By the expression on his face, he didn't seem to hate it, and she relaxed. Luke walked over to the young blonde and complimented her baking. A smile spread across Christina's face from ear to ear. She did it! She made a cake all on her own! And someone liked it! The young girl let out a quiet squeal of delight. "Really? You really like it? I could hug you right now!" And it was true. If she didn't think he'd take it as weird for her to jump up and hug him minutes after meeting him, she probably would have. Christina could not even control her huge smile, let alone stop it. She had to make sure to call her grandmother later and tell her about it.

ooc: Whoops. Accidently posted with the wrong character at first, cause my internet is stupid. Deleted the post now. Sorry for any confusion, dears:)

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Happy to see the young girl's response to his compliment, he stuck out his arms in a gesture and said, "Bring it in. I love hugs." After such, he looked over to the rather quiet girl, Clarity, that hadn't really said anything in a while, and asked "So how are you on this pleasant day, Clarity? Get to taste the food?" He smiled in her direction, but went back to sit on the adjacent red picnic table. He folded his hands together as he leaned forward in the girls' direction and looked up. The clouds were starting to find more coverage in the sky, although none was to worry, as the general color of the sky remained a bright blue. Perhaps much later tonight they would have rainstorms, but it would be a long time after this feast of his ended.

You know, he really liked this, the idea of getting together with people who share the same loves as he did, even if he didn't know him. It must have been a plus to being a charismatic, friendly guy like he was. Anyone could come to these events, anyone at all, and these three lovely ladies decided to. He was having a genuine time with them, getting to know people he would have otherwise never really talked to. Perhaps next time around, he could either make it another nationality for food, although his lineage dated back to the Greeks for centuries, there was a possibility for mixing it up. Or they could have another sort of celebration, like the Olympics or something zany like that. For now, though, he'd put it off mind and enjoy the company he had right in front of him.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

And so the party arrived. Adrianna was dressed in her usual attire, white ruffled skirt, blue halter top, flip flops and her hair pulled back in a braid the way her mother always did it. She had seen a few fliers hanging around campus and thought that it seemed like a good socializing event. She needed to get out more, being stuck with a bunch of people who really didn't like her much in her dorm room wasn't much fun. She wasn't a disliked person usually, but she had thrown a party without asking them first...not such a good idea, even if the party was for them.

Adrian headed down towards the pond where the shindig was being held. A Greek food display, what's not to love? Adrian had always wanted to go to Greece, it was beautiful and the language was always soothing. Her mother had been there once before Adrian was born and told Adrian it was the highlight of her life, before she had a daughter. That had been before her mother got sick. Adrian shook her head to erase the thought. She hated thinking about her mother, it always seemed to bring down her usual upbeat and positive outlook on life, but she had trouble not thinking of her mother.

Adrian spotted a few people gathered around, mostly girls, with one very attractive guy amongst them. He must've been the one holding the party. Adrianna was amazing with crowds, she was always so used to them being from California and all. She put on her most charming smile, though it didn't really touch her multi-colored eyes, not the least bit shy and took a deep breath before speaking. "Hello everyone, I'm Adrianna Carstyn. Or if you'd prefer something shorter, Adrian, Adri, or Cali girl, either one is fine with me."

Adrian hoped that none of them saw through the almost perfect facade. Her voice didn't waver, it was quiet and yet happy and soothing. She had the same type of voice that her mother did, one of the many things they had in common and one of the many things that always reminded Adrian of her.

[Clarity Ryder]

Clarity;; ♥

It wasn't that Clarity was uncomfortable with the conversation--she just had no input and wanted to listen to the fascinating conversation about mouth-versus-not-mouth. At least, that was what it had developed into. At first, Clarity was having an uncontrollable blushing fit. Then, she realized that nobody else really seemed to have a problem with it, and anyway it took the focus even further away from her, so she relaxed and dug into the food, leaning back against the table.

Then, Luke asked how she was doing. She realized that the food on her plate was gone, and it looked as if she had not touched anything. She laughed nervously. "Ah, yes. I'm doing well today. The food is just too good to talk, you know, for me. Heh." She helped herself to more, sampling some of the dishes the other girls had brought. Then she remembered her manners. "How are you doing today? And the rest of you?"

Another girl appeared then, causing Clarity to think that maybe no males liked free food. She introduced herself with a smile, one that sparked recognition in Clarity's eyes. She knew that smile well: it was the same one she always wore, although she knew that some others wore it for reasons worse than her shy ones. She smiled and simply said, "Hi."