voidtreckerexpress | Our food is home

Entry tags:

Our food is home

Who: Persephone & Open
Where: Kitchen & Dining Carriage
When: Jelly Day 20
What: Persephone is feeling nostalgic and homesick, so she's feeding people food from home.
Warnings: None so far

A. Kitchen

Thinly slicing several pounds of vegetables takes just as long as it sounds. And before this could get anywhere, she should really get the baklava in the oven and out with the syrup poured over. There's a couple loaves of bread going in one of the other ovens. Honestly, it was a lot of rushing around, keeping an eye on one thing while another was being prepared.

Still, she was enjoying herself, mostly. It was the smells of home, stealing olives from the jar as she made the bread, chopping big handfuls of parsley to coat the vegetables, the garlic, tomato and lemon fighting with the sweet smell of honey. If the pervasive sense that her mother should be right around the corner would disappear, well then this would be so much nicer. She wipes at her eyes with the back of her wrist and turns to look at her company.

"Can you grab that really really big roasting tray from the bottom cabinet?" She called out over her shoulder at the person nearby, "I would but my hands are just covered in olive oil."

B. Upstairs Dining Car; Closed to Close CR

It feels like a feast, like she's managed to pull off some fancy mortal realm party in the confines of a train. The briam is rich and tomatoey, the bulgur salad is fresh and full of herbs and lemon and the baklava is crisp and sweet. She feels like a wrung out towel after it and only barely has the energy to add a fruit salad made from produce in the greenhouse car. Not traditional but--delicious. She'd sent out word earlier that food was in the offing, to the people she'd want to try this taste of home.

After the food is assembled--she disappears into a bathroom, coming out in a hastily done up chiton. It's amazing how elegant you can make a bedsheet look with a few brooches--bought at the winter fair, and a length of vine wrapped around her waist. The vine matches the green leaves, the brilliant red flowers tucked in her hair. A pair of shell earrings shift and gently clink as she makes her way up to the second floor where her things are prepared. Any weird looks at her attire are met with a flush.

"I was feeling nostalgic. Go ahead, try something."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

There's a young boy who's crept into the kitchen, looking for more food to squirrel away. It looks like there's nothing made right now but - oh.

... This is awkward. "... Okay." He leans down and takes out the large tray, managing to lift it with relative ease and put it on the counter. He shuts the door once it's done.

Thanatos arrives as normally does, with the light changing and the toil of a bell as he shifts into the upstairs dining car. He's dressed in his outfit from home, so Persephone doesn't look so out of place anymore. Not with two of them dressing "traditionally."

"Did you make all this yourself?" he asks, not sitting quite yet. He was expecting hot cocoa at most. Nothing so elaborate as this. It's a lot of food for one person, so there has to be other invited. Right?

Kitty had just stepped into the kitchen for a snack when Persephone made her request, and she looked toward the cabinet to find the tray.

"Oh, sure," she said, bending down to pick it up. As she walked over to place the tray someplace where Persephone could reach it, she took in a deep breath.

"Mm...It smells really good in here. Whatcha making?"

As soon as Madoka hears about the food, she's quick to head in the direction of the dining car. She wouldn't want to make Persephone wait, after all - though she's sure that she's not the only one who wants to try some of the food.

Once she arrives, there's more food on display than anticipated. There's not just the baklava, but also multiple kinds of salads, and.. is that some sort of vegetable dish? Madoka is already impressed by the sight alone, her eyes going wide as she looks at the food.

.. and staying wide as she spots Persephone's outfit. Not because she thinks it's weird, but rather because she thinks it's stylish in a way that suits the other.

But rather than mentioning anything about that, Madoka thinks it's more important to first address the thing she's here for.

"You made the baklava!" She sounds so happy about it.

Devero's probably just on his way to or from the Stores car, carrying a broom and dustpan to do some cleaning, and only too willing to stop and help. "Sure!" he says. He leans the broom up somewhere away from the active food prep and finds the requested roasting tray.

"Where do you want this?" he asks, carrying it over to her.

"That--that is an excellent question." Persephone eyes the mess that is currently taking up her portion of the kitchen. Or at least, it seems like a mess to her. She's used to cleaning as she goes with a little help, not running around the kitchen to catch up with whatever is currently on the edge of being cooked.

"Here!" She nudges her bowl of tomatoes back to one side, leaving a spot probably just big enough for the tray.

She knew her clothing was odd for this train--but it still makes her self conscious. She fiddles with the folds at her shoulders and has to talk herself back into this. Hosting is a privilege, don't get all flustered because of something silly.

"Of course I did. One of my better batches since I could ask for all the thing I wanted, rather than just whatever we have at hand."

"Thank you, I hate to get all the cabinet doors dirty."

Persephone pours in the diced tomatoes then pats around until she finds the spoon she's laid out. Smoothing out the tomatoes is the last step before the dreaded carefully placing of many many vegetables.

"Briam--it's just a lot of vegetables. This is all going to be roasted and then you can eat it with bread, dip it in the tomatoes at the bottom? It's something I ate plenty of at home."

"Not entirely. I had some help."

His outfit is really--over the top, she thinks. It makes a statement, though she's not entirely sure it's the statement he's trying to make. Maybe that he hates modern fashion. She smoothes down the edges of her makeshift chiton and raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't make this all to eat myself. Come--sit. This is all things I ate at home."

"Thank you!"

She pops an olive in her mouth and nudges the tray with a few fingers hooked inside. Time for the tomato part. But--she noticed him looking around a little, scoping out the kitchen. So she chews, swallows and nods toward an oven.

"If you're hungry, the bread should be out in a few minutes. I won't miss a slice or two."

"... Okay." The boy looks terribly thin and very tired as he leans against the counter. "... Have you been here a long time? I just got here the other day. Tthis place is a little bit confusing." He knows what a train is, just... everything else is A Lot.

"Oh.. You're so kind to share! Thank you..!"

Apparently kind enough, in Madoka's humble opinion, that she deems it worthy of a bow. It's just a quick bow though, since the girl is rushing over a moment later to sit down at the table so she can try some of the baklava. There's an excited rush to her feet that's so typical of younger children, perhaps even younger than Madoka's age, but she can't help it. This dish has been properly hyped up now, and so Madoka can't help but be so incredibly excited about actually trying it out.

She's making sure to not be a glutton about this though. Madoka only grabs two small pieces for herself. That should be enough to try out for now, right?

"It already looks so good..!"

It's... not quite big enough, but now that he has a general idea where she wants it, he can scoot a few more things aside until he does have the space to set it down.

"Is there anything else I can get you while you're all anointed, Mx. Goddess?" he asks with-- perhaps slightly exaggerated politesse. He doesn't say it meanly or mockingly, though; he's just teasing.

She flushes, pulling the tomatoes over the dish. What a strange suffix? But not enough to question, as she pushes back a stray hair with the back of her hand and waggles a finger at him.

"I mean, if you're offering, I could use someone to take a look at that bread in the oven?

"Five? Six?"

She stops midway through pouring tomatoes into the pan and sets it down to think back. "It was Egret. The first platform in it, I think." Her mouth moves, counting them off silently.

"I guess I'm in the middle of month six. Next month will ring in six months on this train. It's kind of weird and overwhelming at first. And it doesn't stop being weird, not really ever. But you do get used to it in some fashion."

There has been some hype to this--enough that Persephone is now a slight bit nervous to see how Madoka likes it. She twists the fabric of her dress in her lap, unseen beneath the table. She hasn't even ate anything herself yet, her stomach shouldn't be doing weird things.

Of course she snacked on olives the whole time. Probably didn't help.

"Well, I hope you enjoy it. I should try something myself." She scoops out a helping of each and snags a slice of bread to dip in the tomato. She is trying really hard not to watch Madoka try her pastry.

"As long as you tell me what I'm looking for," he says with a good natured laugh. "I usually just eat food, not make it."

His nose helps him find the correct oven; he crouches his big self down to peek through the door at the loaves inside.

"... I mean, I've... gotten used to weird and overwhelming. That's been my life the past few years. I got used to it. I'm sure I can get used to this, too." He doesn't want to have to 'get used to it', he wants to be with Minato and Jin and Chidori and Koromaru. But since when does he get what he wants?

Thankfully Persephone doesn't have to wait much longer. Madoka figures she should start eating the moment the other grabs something for herself as well, so she's already scooping up a bite of baklava and putting it into her mouth.

There's a moment of silence, where she's trying it. Maybe there's even some tension hanging in the air, if Persephone is that curious about the girl may think of it.

But after a few moments of thoughtful chewing and then swallowing, Madoka's eyes light up.

"Oh.. It's so yummy! I haven't really tasted anything like it before, but I really like it..!" Don't mind her as she quickly puts another bite into her mouth, like she just can't wait to eat more of it.

"You'll have to learn eventually, right? Everyone has to cook sometimes, here."

Tomatoes, then careful vegetable stacking. It's a process, one she starts on immediately as she walks him through checking bread.

"It should be golden brown but not like--brown brown. You know how bread is supposed to look right? Do they have bread in your world?" She teases, "You don't eat computers?"

"I know the feeling."

She crooks a sympathetic smile back at him.

"I was just getting used to everything new and strange at home and then--bam. Here we are. With a billion new things to get used to. It's not really what any of us had in mind."

Tomatoes in the pan, and then vegetables. This is the part that takes forever.

“At least I’m not having to help heal my team from training every night. We fight monsters most nights.” Though he kind of likes that part. “We don’t have to deal with monsters here, right?”

"Of course we don't! Don't be ridiculous. We eat balanced nanonutrient meal-replacement capsules, like civilized people." He says that with a completely straight face as he cracks the door on the oven and evaluates the loaves inside.

"These seem pretty pale," he adds, closing the door again. "Unless I'm way off, looks like they need some more time."

Now that she's a bit closer, she can get a better smell of the tasty aroma. "Mm...that sounds awesome," she says. "You uh...need any help?"

She still wasn't great in the kitchen, but she was pretty good with direction.

Rapunzel for the most part had come to the kitchen to do some baking, so helping others out with their own was something she was more than happy to do. So all she did simply give a nod before she went to get the tray.

"It's this one, right?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 6

Our food is home

A

B

A

B

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

A