recklessthings | ☪ zari tomaz | legends of tomorrow

[Zari and Behrad are having a minor, minor disagreement about how they want to approach their next plan to take down ARGUS. This minor disagreement has led to Behrad going out to blow off some steam - literally - and Zari retreating to her room to mess around with her tech.

AKA play some Legend of Zelda.

She only glances up with the door to her room opens and when she sees Esmeray there she hits pause, assuming this is about business.]

Is the encryption not working?

( murat has gone off with behrad, because he is a less extreme version of penny adiyodi: incapable of standing back if someone might need his help. it's the most frustrating and wonderful thing about him, and it's led to a few minor disagreements between them, as well.

it's how esme realized something was wrong, and why she has gone off in search of zari.

she shakes her head, arms folded lightly across her chest as she lingers in the doorway. )

It's not that. ( esme will be very surprised if zari's hacking skills ever fail them. ) I was checking you. ( checking in on, is what she probably means. )

[There's a brief look of amusement that crosses her face at that tiny mangling of the language, and when she corrects her, there's no sign of malice in her tone. It's just easier than actually addressing her own feelings, because why would she do that?]

Checking on me. Checking me is something a lot more violent, and usually during a hockey game.

[ It's about 4:35 AM, and while Stefan sure as heck doesn't know the direction of the Kaa'ba from the ship, he DOES know how to whip up a suhoor that would make even the most devoted of Muslim families swoon. (Call it his Jordanian roots, or even a quiet dedication to keeping Alesci's family alive in his memory - but like clockwork, he texts Zari on the first morning - ]

Hey, I made suhoor.
Figured you'd want something more in your system on the first day, AND I didn't want to wake anyone up, so meet me in the kitchen?

[ Whenever she arrives, she'll see a typical spread of steel-cut oatmeal with fruits and milk; homemade Shakshouka with whole-wheat toast; date and banana smoothies as well as whole versions of the fruit; and for him, chilled blood smoothies fortified with extra iron.

He waves at her, motioning for her to take a seat. ]

Hey, [ he smiles, ] Ramadan mubarak.

Ramadan mubarak.

[It's been so long since she's actually said those words out loud to someone, rather than just celebrating by herself, and in a lot of ways it's good to have Stefan on board for that reason. She moves over to the stools across from him, pushing up a bit as she takes in a deep breath to take in the scents.]

That smells so good.

Thanks. [ He reaches for a plate, instinctively handing one to her. ] I could've asked Gideon to whip something up, but not on the first day.

[ The first day is all about a grand meal, about starting a fast together and coming together at sunset to break that fast together. Ramadan was his favorite holiday as an Alesci, and honestly, it's looking like some habits die hard. That, and part of him likes to keep his skills sharp. (He knows he'll get lazy if he relies on Gideon for anything in the kitchen.)

He helps himself to a smoothie first, ] So everything's pretty self-explanatory, but we've got your breakfast smoothies, your traditional shakshouka, toast, and of course, oatmeal and fruit. [ He pauses, ] I would've made pancakes too, but that just spikes and crashes. It's like, the least helpful thing this time of year.

Pancakes are still pretty great though.

[And she's just going to try a little bit of everything, loading up her plate like she's going to eat for ten men because that's just how she operates with regards to food in general.]

I'm gonna cook iftar.

[Don't think she's not going to pull her own weight.]

Edited 2018-06-03 20:06 (UTC)

Sure. [ He's not going to say no, especially when he's curious about what she defines as iftar. ] I figure we won't eat like this the whole month, but... if we've got the time and energy, why not?

[ he says, like he isn't planning on leading both Fajr and Maghrib prayers the whole month. While part of him knows that it's customary for men to lead (and therefore he can't switch off with Zari), he also wonders if that's putting too much pressure on her. He also knows that most people aren't feeling the Ramadan Spirit, and well. If they wanted to take part in services at a traditional masjid, they could just take the jump ship to Stefan's old masjid in Jersey. (Or the one Alesci's grandparents frequent in Jordan; language won't necessarily be an issue.)

So gently - ] Hey, while I'm thinking about it: do you wanna take the jump ship for evening prayers, or should we do it here?

[And there's a moment where she stops and her brow furrows. It isn't that she's not game, necessarily, but she's never actually attended evening prayers with a group of people, jump ship or otherwise. After ARGUS, her parents held prayers in their home, but they couldn't go somewhere.

Part of her is curious, but part of her is also worried that she'll be doing it wrong.]

I ... usually just do them on the ship. That's the way we did it back home.

[ That hesitation gives Stefan pause. He doesn't want to push her into attending a masjid, especially since he won't be able to sit beside her. He could grab a friend, ask them to help, but it wouldn't be the same. The gender barrier would be reinforced, if not downright on lock, and it would only be worse in Jordan. At least the ones in Jersey understood the needs of their congregation.

He doesn't have to think twice about his next answer, though. ] Okay.

[ Part of him wants to go, but that wouldn't be fair to her, so without thinking, he clarifies - ] I can hold Taraweeh here too. Just you and me, unless Ray's feeling all "inclusive" and wants to join in again.

[ Which, while not unwelcome, does mean he's gotta account for more time explaining than he'd really like... ]

Edited 2018-06-18 00:37 (UTC)

[She laughs a bit at that.]

I think I've managed to talk him into just helping me cook. He's been reading up on the cuisine so he's very excited.

[Giving Ray something new to do is never a bad thing, it's just a matter of keeping it practical.]

Oh, thank god... [ Stefan sighs with pure relief as he reaches over for some toast and eggs. ] I'm all for him fasting with us and everything, but there's no need for him to actually do it.

[ The Legends don't really do interfaith dinners or fastathons, so the point would be moot. Beyond gaining empathy for both Stefan and Zari. Which, Stefan belatedly realizes, might be the whole point of this exercise. ]

[She nods with a small smirk.]

It's a very sweet gesture, because that's the kind of guy Ray is, but sometimes I feel like he just needs permission to not go overboard. Otherwise he absolutely will.

So I've come to learn.

[ There is friendliness and kindness, and then there is Ray the overenthusiastic puppy. Stefan knows that part of Ramadan is being nice, and reflecting upon his actions by guarding his tongue... at the same time, holding Ray back IS a kindness in and of itself. ]

Though, bright side: I think the Legends are the first co-workers I've had who don't care when Eid is.

[She laughs a bit at that.]

I can't really say that's a problem I've ever had. My previous job was a little unconventional.

Good kind of unconventional, or...?

[ Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't asked Zari much about her past (and probably vice-versa, beyond their shared faith). He doesn't want to pry, so he keeps the question open-ended as he tears his toast into pieces and dips it into the tomatoes. ]

Well, I was part of a resistance movement in a dystopian society that outlawed religion so ...

[Not necessarily the greatest.]

My job didn't have required hours, but we definitely couldn't be big and public about our celebrations.

[ well. That certainly wasn't what he expected. ] The hell? They outlawed faith?

[ Given Alesci's interfaith background, Stefan's struggling to imagine this. Abrahamic religions were easy to identify, and King Ferdinand/Queen Isabella had tried their darndest to stamp out both Judaism and Islam back in the day. (The infamous dish, named something akin to "sabbath in sorrows", had been a particularly skeevy way to test one's faith.)

But okay, assuming they even outlawed those... what about Taoism? Buddhism? Shintoism? Religion defines a culture, no matter how much a place thinks they've escaped their deities. Their whole world is built upon that pillar. ]

Besides my wondering how that would even work, I just - [ he sighs, rubbing his temples, ] I'm sorry. I can see how that would make things difficult.

They arrested a lot of people. I mean, faith isn't the only think they outlawed, but ... ARGUS had a way of putting their foot down.

[Violently, when needed.]

Pretty brazen ways, from the sounds of it.

[ he shouldn’t be talking smack during Ramadan, especially as a revert to Islam, but he can’t help it. Faith defines a culture, and in eliminating faith, you might as well also aim for cultural genocide.

Which, belatedly, might have been the point all along. Stefan swallows, ] Sorry again, I uh – I know I can get pretty heated when it comes to this stuff.

[She shakes her head.]

You're talking to the girl who got arrested several times for "religious infractions." I got pretty heated myself.

Spoken like a true member of the sahabah.

[ Stefan has to grin at that - she's certainly got the fire of an early political figure. He finally reaches for one of his blood "smoothies," taking a breath before he gulps it down.

It never tastes right when it has extra iron, but then again, he's fasting. He doesn't want to get hungry on the ship, let alone when they're on a mission.

(Because they'll be on missions. He refuses to stay behind when he can do more on the ground floor.) ]

[She goes back to her pancakes, watching as he downs those smoothies before she finally has to speak up because that just looks gross.]

Okay, I gotta ask. How do you handle chugging all of that?

[A beat.]

Also if that's a rude question to ask a vampire, sorry?

I usually don't. [ He grimaces, peering back at the bottle as if it was full of rat poison. ] But it isn't a rude question to me, anyway.

Most vampires aim for drinking straight from the vein, but we don't exactly have animals on board so... I get to make do.

Oh.

[A beat.]

So you drink animal blood not people blood?

Yeah. [ somehow, he feels like he should have led up with that first. ] I haven't had human blood for at least a century now.

[ he'd like to say never, but a) that would be a brazen lie, and b) he would just damn himself the next time he went all Ripper on people. ]

Wow.

[She pauses for a moment.]

Is that like swearing off junk food?

I'd liken it more to swearing off pasta, or any sort of carbohydrate.

[ #nerd... but he smiles all the same at the analogy. ]

You can live without it. You don't want to live without it, because it hurts, but you can, and you make do with what you can get elsewhere.

[She makes a face before shaking her head.]

Pasta's awesome. I don't think I could do it.

Fortunately, it's also a choice you don't have to make. [ He nudges some more pancakes her way, not even trying to hide his grin anymore. ] By which I mean, now I want pasta for iftar.

[She laughs a bit at that.]

You got it. I think I can manage to whip something together.

[Zari is not here because she wants to be here. She's here because her parents will not accept that her people are an indoor people, an online people, a people who do not need to actually physically see other people and are therefore the luckiest people in the world.

(In her opinion.)

That being said, her parents insist that she joins at least one extra curricular where she will be in the presence of real people in the real world, so she chooses one of the clubs that works with the local schools. Kids are better than most people over the age of thirteen, so she would rather deal with them than actual adults or people her own age. And! The club, in their infinite wisdom, put her on candy duty, so she can have the best of both worlds.

The only downside is that she's teamed up with a student she doesn't know - mostly because he looks like he actually ventures outdoors every once in a while. Probably a football guy. He looks like a football guy.

She refills the candy bowl, grabs a handful out of the bag for herself, before stepping back and holding part of the handful out to him.]

Peanut butter cup?

[It's programs like these that kept Steve out of serious trouble as a kid. It's where he met the mentor that changed his life so drastically. With the medical help the man was able to secure for him, Steve went from a very sickly kid to the buff man he is today. All he ever wanted in return was for Steve to grow up to be a good man. This is one of the many ways Steve chooses to do that.

Just because Steve sees it as a duty doesn't mean he can't have fun. There's nothing more fun than handing out candy and watching the kids go wild.

Steve smiles at the newcomer, careful not to make judgments. (He does think he has the same shirt as her in twice the size.)] Don't mind if I do.

[He pops the candy in his mouth. Steve waits until he swallows to ask.] How's your first day going?

Kids are better than adults, so I think we're already winning.

[She pops a peanut butter cup in her mouth, before waving at some of the kids as they make their way out the haunted house to grab handfuls of candy.]

Plus, free candy. Double win.

☪ zari tomaz | legends of tomorrow

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