runic chocolate

Matentines was a splendid holiday. A holiday of physical bonds and ensuring temporary or permanent alliances. Meridian enjoyed it, though he had not yet found any permanent partners for his journey just yet. He knew it was not long til fate brought the perfect one to him though, it was just about working to be in perfect state to welcome them into his life. And while he was waiting, it was no great evil to put good naturedness into the world.

What that meant, of course, was to ensure that he was fortifying his current alliances as much as possible. If he did not have a partner in arms, he must make sure the other swordsman around him understood the depths of his appreciation for them.

In order to best do this, Meridian was taking the route of chocolates this Matentines. It was not an inherently romantic gesture, and very few buns would turn down a gift of good chocolate. He delivered several decently sized containers of the stuff to his allies in battle at the Taco Hell, a general mix of flavors and such that he picked up on his way into work. Despite working with them for a while, he was still not very sure on exactly what chocolate beckoned them. They did not break bread with him much, for whatever reason.

But one bun who has broken bread with him would certainly be getting a much more carefully chosen package. Dove, the brave soul and a voice of the cherubuns in the city, had been nothing but kind to him. They had invited him to a tea party, spoken with him during the slow hours at Taco Hell and had offered companionship when discussing things of perhaps a more sensitive matter. All of these were deeply appreciated, and Meridian planned to ensure Dove knew this.

Placed carefully in a jet black matte box were twelve carefully chosen chocolates. Meridian was no chocolatier, and he could never get the hang of tempering them damnable sweet. However, he was able to inscribe them with runes after much work with his pre-tempered chocolate. Each milk chocolate sweet had a different rune carefully piped over it with white chocolate, a combination Meridian was very proud of.

The first row of three spelled out a basic protection ward. Something Meridian kept closely memorized, something he considered fairly simple. It wouldn’t protect from the worse of any curses, but it was intended to make days go just a little better. The smaller negative happenstance was no match against Meridian’s simplest wards. Inside each component of this spell was a center of caramel, a substance well known to ward off negative energy. Everyone knew this, of course, but Meridian made sure to make use of it.

The second row of three was a good luck spell. Very different than the protection; these chocolates would ensure that good things happened while the other row stopped the bad ones. In combination, Dove will be able to live a wonderful few days. Meridian was particularly proud of this combination, as he had to work very hard to make sure these runes did not disturb the nougat inside these chocolates. It had not played nice with the hot white chocolate as he was writing the runes, but it seemed to have worked out alright.

And finally, the last six were a combination of runes of power. Now that Dove had good days ahead, Meridian wanted to ensure they had the power to charge forward and take advantage of the good times. There were many runes for power in his arcanist work, and all of them seemed to have about the same effect. So, to be sure, he just made each of these final milk chocolate and marshmallow chocolates had a different power rune. He was pretty sure that Dove was going to specifically appreciate the marshmallow chocolates. When he looked at them, he was quite reminded of a marshmallow. Not only were they light and fluffy, they also held other properties that reminded Meridian of a marshmallow.

A marshmallow, when subjected to strange new experiences like heat, does not burn into something unrecoverable. Toasting a marshmallow over hellfire only brought out the strongest flavors and the most pleasurable experience, much like Dove was bringing that tinge of sweetness to a hellfire bound place.

Meridian kept the very special box of chocolates in the work fridge until he got off, heading over to Dove’s place of residence. It seemed they shared with another bun, though he’s never seen her around. Jackie, was her name perhaps? He’s unsure. That may be a good thing to figure out if he was going to continue to drop by, but their schedules never seemed to coincide.

As he stands at their doorstep with the jet black box, the tinkling of a bell alerts Meridian to something behind him. Dove approaches, returning from who knows where.

“Oh!” They say in pleasant surprise, “Hello, Meridian.”

“Ah, what luck to meet you on the returning journey,” Meridian spins around, offering the black box down to them. “I have simply come to bequeath upon you a gift. I need nothing in return, this is a simple rune sequence intended to convey to you my appreciation for your time and attention.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Dove says, taking the box. They hold it with both hands, not opening it just yet. “I see a lot of people giving boxes out nowadays, Jackal said something about Matentines? I haven’t really asked her to elaborate quite yet. She seemed to go quite red when asked to expand on it, though I could tell it was more for my sake than hers.”

Meridian makes a mental note that the roommates name is Jackal. “Yes! Matentines, a holiday centered around romance and partnership. It is the month that most buns pair up and being the process of procreation, as the urge overtakes many of them. Was this not celebrated by you and your fellow cherubuns?”

“Well… celebrated, no,” Dove says. Their cheeks are only slightly pink as the fullness of the holiday dawns on them, “But I sort of assumed it was something like that…” They look down at the box in their hands, and then back up at Meridian questioningly. “And the chocolates…?”

“No, those are no declaration of intent!” Meridian clarifies. “I am sure some buns convey that intent with boxes of chocolate, but I do not wish to impose that sort of thing on our friendship just blossoming so. I only wished to convey the importance of our platonic bond, not the expectation of anything more.” He suddenly avoids eye contact, single eye focuses heavily at the wallpaper behind Dove. He had not intended for this to come across as a romantic gesture, clearly, but it was not a wholly negative view in his mind. However, since this was clearly Dove’s first Matentines down here, he would only engage in those sort of advances if they first initiated. 

Dove nods, understanding. Their cheeks stay tinted pink as they focus in on the actual box of chocolates and flip it open. “Wow, these are beautiful! Did you make them, Meridian?”

Meridian allows his focus to fall back on the box. “Ah, I did not make the chocolates themselves. That is beyond my skillset and my tools. However, I did design and pipe the white chocolate runes. Upon eating all of them, they should work in conjunction to provide a good few days of protection and strength.”

“Thank you Meridian, I appreciate.” Dove smiles brightly, and the bell around their neck tinkles with the pure motion of it. Like it takes their whole body to express even small joy. “Would you like to come in for some tea?”

Meridian is extra glad he took the time to choose chocolates that would go nicely with tea.