#realized that most of my abel content is food related

[aces-and-angels]

no matter what happens, ro and abel are gonna eat 🍽

reference image below:

image from @C0smaux on pinterest (unsure if they are the actual artist, but I couldn't find any other upload of this base)

[rosettastarlight]

Abel Soren

Part two of my theories on this au where Sam was given up instead of Caine. Like I said, it was really long so I cut it in two. Since I’m not going to give him Caine’s name and I want to be consistent with the slight symbolism of the biblical names, I renamed him Abel Soren. I suppose in this au, since Sam doesn't really seem the type who's an intentional troublemaker, he might have not ended up at Coates academy at all… then again, there are also some kids who didn't really do anything but ended up there anyway. Either that, or his DNA connection to the gaiaphage would draw him to Perdido Beach.

His adoptive parents are rich but neglectful, showing little if any affection or love, and they send him off to boarding school at the first excuse.

His parents' coldness impacted him badly as it did Caine, but in a different way, leading to Abel being withdrawn and quiet, not knowing how to show what he was never shown. He essentially just wants to be left alone, and rarely, if ever, smiles, speaking only when spoken to first.

I don't think he'd necessarily be a villain in this au since having low-empathy doesn't necessarily mean that person is bad, but he would butt heads against his brother, especially when he finds out their relation.

At Coates, he kept his head down and was content to be unknown until a similar incident to the "School Bus Sam" happened, except considering it's Coates, it was probably either a fire or danger caused by another student. After that, he became famous in a way, considering how quick and efficent he stepped up and handled the situation where if he'd hesitated could have mean the death of many, but then how he eased back into the invisible and quiet life he was accustomed to immediately after.

This is what essentially drew Diana to him. Before she knew of her power, she just knew when she touched his hand that he was powerful for some reason, and was only proven right by his sudden act of bravery. She figured he could be use, using her looks and cunning to get his attention. A lot of her attempts were rebutted coldly until she eventually started to chip through his walls.

She respects his space, he respects hers.

This sparked a sort of odd relationship between them that couldn't exactly be called friendship but at the same time, something more as she became one of the few people Abel talks to on his own. It’s similar to the unspoken relationship between Caine and Diana but healthier in a way. This was strengthened when she first witnessed his powers and lied about it to the teachers and police when they asked her what happened, as it cemented Abel's belief that he could trust her.

He first realized he had his power when he caught Drake attacking someone (I haven't decided exactly; could be Diana, could be one of the Coates mutants, could just be a random person) and impulsively tried to stop him when a beam of light shot out of his hands.

It burned off most of his arm, and the doctors were forced to amputate what remained, so most of what is done in the series is him with a prosethetic until he grows his "whip hand".

When inquired about the situation, it was Drake's word against Diana's, and considering he had a more incriminating record, Abel kept a low profile, and he wasn't exactly being innocent beforehand, no one believed him, and when it became obvious he would either be medicated or institutionalized if he kept ranting on about the quiet boy in class shooting green light from his hands, he let the issue drop. But never forgot.

This incident did, however, draw Connie Temple's attention, and it only took a bit of digging and one look at him to realize he was her other son, that she had the same connection to something dark within him as David. She kept a close eye on him afterwards and made notes of her observations.

Drake isn't considered an ally, but Abel is someone able to keep him under control since Drake had seen firsthand what he can do and what he can do again if he pushes him, and Abel takes full advantage of this so Drake won't hurt Diana or anyone else.

Though he is reluctant to use his power again after seeing what it did to Drake, Diana encourages him to practice at it until he has a somewhat better grip on it.

When she realizes her power and makes up the bar system, she doesn't hesitate to tell Abel there are others like him. He, however, doesn't know what to do with this information, and just tries to go about like everything's normal. Until normal crashes and burns.

After the Poof happens and the FAYZ, some of the Coates can't help but expect Abel to do something since he has gained a reputation for being silent until the time calls for someone to step up.

With Abel not sure what exactly to do, when Diana suggests a travel to Perdido Beach to make a deal for food, he jumps at the opportunity for something to do, something to distract him from his thoughts.

Unlike Caine does in canon, he actually listens to her, and fully intends to come only for more food since they are bound to run out sooner or later, and if anyone wants to stay in town, that's their decision, and he certainly wouldn't blame them. Except he becomes curious when he goes there and meets David Temple, son of Nurse Connie Temple.

Abel's actually quite impressed with how he's handling the situation, but Diana senses something off, and shakes David's hand to check, later telling Abel her findings as she whispers in his ear.

Shocked to find out there's people with the power not just at Coates Academy but at Perdido Beach, and that this guy is apparently the only one Diana's met with power at his strength, Abel decides to stay to find out more. See what else they have in common and if in solving this increasingly complicated puzzle, they might come a step closer to everything going back to normal.

He and David Temple form an uneasy alliance, since David doesn't like the idea of sharing his position as leader.

After the twins disappear, he and Diana pitch the idea that it might be best to get everyone's birth certificates in order to figure out what exactly they're going to do and who is going to "poof" next. This is how the boys find out they're twins.

It does not go well. At all.

The girls are in the background shaking their heads at them.

"Yours is an idiot, too?"

“Yep."

“What do you know, something else they have in common."

[waywardsparrownz]

FREE FOOD BIN. . .  ALL HAIL THE FREE FOOD BIN!!!    ~

  “Hai dei bellissimi occhi…”

  “Hai dei bellissimi occhi…”

  “Nice! That’s a good one! What about the others?”

  “Umm… posso avere un po 'di caffè?”

  “Good.”

  “Vorresti un caffè?”

  “Sweet!”

  “Ummm… dov’è…umm.. il caffè?”

  “Perfect… How about mercato? Market.”

  “Metato?”

  “No - it’s mercato.”

  “Mecato?”

  “Sure...”

  I was beginning to suspect my Italian teacher (who’s eyes really were quite “Hai dei bellissimi occhi") was letting me get away with more than a little bad grammar and horrendous mispronunciation. To make matters worse, Nora spoke with a strong British accent. This was an unusual contrast for me, as most non-native English speakers talk with some form of an American accent. Admittedly I wasn’t the most devout student. All I cared about was coffee related phrases. Either way, my knowledge of Italian was pretty bad then, & no better now. All plans for an Italian road-trip have been shelved until further notice.

  “Buongiorno! come è stata la tua no…”

  “Chirp, squawk! Chirpetty, chirp!”

  “Look what I found! Guys! Guys! Look at it!” The sparrows were chattering excitedly from the kitchen.

  “What is is it Finchly?”

  “Is it open?”

  “Can we carry it?”

  “It’s cheese. And not just any cheese: Tong de Chevre de Pay. Which would go beautifully with my mushroom!”

  “But the label says pesto…”

  “And you don’t have a mushroom Finchly.”

  “I’m quoting ‘Ratatouille’ you schmuck. Which we are totally watching tonite. Right?” Finchly looked inquiringly in my direction. I looked at Nora. She was the one with Netflix. Personally I was rooting for ‘Into the Wild’. “Anyway I know it’s pesto, and I found it in the free bin…”  

  “All hail the free bin!” Cried half a dozen sparrows.

  “And uncleaned countertops!” Chirped someone else.

  “We’ll mix it with all those crackers we found & have a feast.” Finished Finchly.

  “Hmmm… What else in in there?” Nora & I abandoned the dinners we were working on & dashed over to investigate. All backpackers worship the free food bin as well. They just aren’t so open about it as sparrows.  “Ooo soy sauce!” There was also a dubious looking bag of greens - which we took, & an even more dubious looking carton of milk. No one touched that. Further rummaging procured tea bags, various packets of opened crackers, & other random tidbits not to our liking. Somewhere near the bottom I found BBQ sauce. “Yum! Maybe I can grill something tomorrow.”

  “I dunno, it’s not very good.”

  “Have you tried it?”

  “Yeah, & didn’t like it, I put in in there.”

  “Oh.” I set it down halfheartedly, & got back to stirring my veggies. All in all, the free food bin had given us a pretty good haul. Dinner tonite was gonna be fancy. I’d gotten an eggplant, shrooms, olives, tomato-sauce, Edam cheese, 2 kinds of raviolis, and special parmesan to top it all off. Backpackers fall into 2 categories when it comes down to meals: rice or pasta. Both are cheap, dead simple, & portable. Newer nomads tend towards pasta. Those who’ve been on the road longer are usually caught cooking rice. In case you’re wondering I still tend towards pasta, I have a bag of rice with me, but haven’t been bothered to to do anything with it. Elaborate meals are a luxury only groups can afford. The hostel we were staying at in Paihia was known for having such a group, & we made many communist meals with them, but none of those people were hungry yet. So there we were, left to our own devices. I don’t like cooking any more often than absolutely necessary. Too many dishes to clean, not enough time. So tonite I was cooking enough food to hopefully last the next 4 dinners, and once again had gotten all the portions wrong.

  Finchly had perched himself atop the abandoned jar of BBQ sauce, clacking his beak in contentment, cleaning off leftover pesto. He watched in amusement as I attempted to stretch the sorrowfully small jar of tomato-sauce. The regular store was closed & I didn’t fancy spending twice as much at the nearby gas station. Nora didn’t have any I could borrow. Baah! “Why don’t you use the BBQ sauce? It’s BarbTui’s special recipe.  Good stuff.”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, the Tui Bird Brothers! Everyone knows the Tuis. Their family runs all these food joints round New Zealand. All started with Grampa Tui’s beer brewing, & he had all these chicks who took over the biz. Those dudes are the Tui brothers. There’s BarbTui - who does all the the sauces. Then there’s Fat Tui. He opened up this rad burger joint in Abel Tasman. Tui Junior took over the brewery…” I snatched the jar out from under my bird buddy and poured it in. “Yuh know you could make that even better if…” He trailed off, with a gleam in his eye.

  “You were saying…” Finchly had recovered quite well from the incident in Auckland. His run in with Tubs had left him fortunately with only a few missing feathers, which he proudly told anyone who’d stand still long enough to listen, had been lost fighting off a large hawk. I was coming to realize Finchly was quite a devilish little fellow.

  “Well maybe I’ll tell yah if you share some of it.”

  “Yeah… We’re still hungry!” The other sparrows eagerly joined him, eyeing me expectantly.

   “You’re always hungry.” I pointed out, “But sure I can spare a bit.”

  “With lots of parmesan on top?!”

  “That was expensive!… Ok.” Under  the careful direction of greedy feather-balls I was ordered to put the mixture into bowls and place a layer of both cheeses on top. This was then covered in an ungodly  amount of BarbTui sauce, and placed in the toaster oven. Shortly afterward the well browned, steamy, gooey, smoking, concoction emerged. I have to admit the cumulative creation greatly exceeded the sum of it’s components. A great feast we had. There were many second helpings and no sparrow went hungry that night. Thus BartTui Pasta was born. I’ve made the recipe a few times since. It gets raised eyebrows when I describe the recipe to  people; but to date, everyone has liked it much more than they expected to. Trust the advice of sparrows: there’s always room for more BBQ sauce!

  As for the movie, I don’t think we watched anything that night. But the next morning saw the start of a torrential rainstorm that flooded the entire premises. Everyone flocked to shelter in the common room for a movie marathon. Inside Out, Into the Wild, Ratatouille! In-between we dashed to Thirty-Thirty for $6 burgers. The perfect day.