voidtreckerexpress | Hey look, it's a Tony log

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Hey look, it's a Tony log

Who: Tony and OTA
Where: Kitchen/ Dining car
When: Bassoon 4-ish
What: Tony's cooking meals, making treats, and generally trying to keep himself busy
Warnings: Irreverence and Language? The usual.

The last team had done a respectable job in the kitchen. He'd had few complaints during the last month. However, between himself and the rest of the red team, especially Feanor, people were going to be very well fed this month.

Even though there were plenty of cooks in this kitchen for the month, this particular day Tony had taken over the kitchen. He was only sort of sticking to the recipes he'd been given, preferring to use his own or make them up as he went (shocking, I know). Currently he had three dishes he was working on at once. He had some salmon he was curing to make lox, some gummy candy he was making, and the main dish for the evening meal- whole roasted salmon with herbs and farfalle pasta with asparagus and tomatoes. Thanks to Evie and Feanor, they also had sourdough bread to go along with it and a fancy Elvish dessert.

Off to one side, he had an eggplant out, ready to fix for certain individuals who saw fish and fled in terror.

[ooc: Feel free to catch him at any point of this meal prep, during clean up, or during the meal. Whatever, you guys know I'll tag anything.]

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"I do, though it's mango--like automatically one of my favorites. Strawberry too. Or both," Renee says, amusement twinging her voice. "I'm gonna do my best not to eat the whole thing."

Because really, she could without trying. But that'd be terribly rude.

"So I guess you're the culprit for all the tantalizing scents when I can't sleep?" It's mostly a joke, Renee's not really upset. The times she can sleep? She actually chalks up to the sweet, homey scents wafting down from the kitchen cab. Sure, they also make her hungry, but it's also comforting enough to put her out without nightmares.

"Well, then I got lucky. It was the only suitable fruit I found in the storage apart from apples, not much of a choice there, and apple crumble would be so boring." It was supposed to be fancy, right? No one in their right mind can call an apple crumble fancy. "I think there still are a couple in the storage. I can always make some more." Though he shouldn't. These are reserves that should last for the whole month.

"That would be me. I see it's impossible to hide anything on this train. Especially, when it comes to food." Feanor says that with a slight smile. He wasn't trying to hide with his nighttime baking. He chose the time on the assumption that it would be the time when he'd be least likely to be interrupted. That wasn't a very correct assumption.

"What do you mean? Apples are great, they're not boring! Especially if you get a couple of varieties that aren't all sweet, you know?" This is a teenager you're talking to. Food is good. And Renee's never had the chance to get anything truly fancy in her life--so the mango crumble is kind of a first. Totally enjoyable, though. It had taken her an effort to not just cram as much in her mouth as fast as she could, and then go back for seconds.

"I don't really mind. It helps me sleep, so I can't complain." It really did soothe away her nightmares, though Renee couldn't explain why. Maybe it called back to a time when her mother was still around and her father wasn't a raging alcoholic..

"You'd probably have better luck if there were fewer wrecks on this train," Renee admitted. Sure, she wasn't the only one, but she really could only speak for herself.

"I mean the apple crumble. That's the most basic you can make. Hence, boring. The apples themselves are quite versatile fruits."

If you're going to do anything, you'd better do it to the best of your abilities. Otherwise, what's the point in even starting?

Fëanor laughs hearing his baking had such unintended but apparently quite welcomed effects.

"Well, then I am happy my actions have spared you from joining the sleepless crowd."

The girl has a point. There is an awful lot of people on this train with a troubled past. To various degrees of complication, of course. Yet the fact remains, even the children here have nightmares of their own. It might, in the end, be that one thing that's common to them all.

"Aw, that's when you kick it up a notch and put some spices you don't normally put in with them! Back at the school I went to, Hank--he was one of the teachers--would put cardamom in apple stuff along with the cloves and cinnamon. Or he'd leave the cloves out and put in orange zest or something. I think baked apples were his favorite." Renee didn't really cook or bake, but she was always interested. Came from being a teenager. And also food insecurity, but she's not about to tell anyone about that.

"It doesn't always work, but yeah, I've been getting more sleep than I would normally, so I really appreciate it." Which was true, because even with coffee and catnaps in the quiet car, Renee could get surly when she wasn't sleeping well.

"Fair. Spices can change a dish completely." For good or for worse. Fëanor did cook or bake more often out of necessity than any fondness for the activity. That led to a fair amount of experimentation and as with any experiments the results were mixed at best.
He did come up with a handful of pretty good combinations and an equal amount of absolutely horrid ones.

Even believing in perfecting any skill he decided to learn, he simply didn't have enough heart or patience, or both, to truly master the culinary arts.

"That's good to hear."

Nobody, not even the Eldar, more resilient than men, can function on poor quality or amount of rest.

"Well, I'm grateful for it at least. No one wants to see me when I'm angry." Because generally it wasn't a pretty sight. So any help was greatly appreciated.

"Though I am curious as to why you are awake, though. Don't you meditate or something, instead of actually sleep?"

Renee really didn't know, but she was at least making an attempt not to be rude...

Fëanor laughs.

"That's something we have in common."

Because his temper is legendary and usually quite a lot of things end up in flames if he gets angry.

"My kind has other ways of resting and I had plenty of it before I came here. So I am more restless than tired most of the time."

How can he answer that question without saying he was dead for ... eras? That would be how many Sun years? Hard to say. The passage of time is difficult to track in the Halls of Mandos.

"Well, at least on my end, they say redheads have volatile tempers. Guess that's true for me." Renee shrugged at that.

Though she gave Feanor something of a surprised look, then. "Sheesh. I think I'm jealous. Before I came here, at least, I think I would've liked to not have to sleep. I feel like I'm wasting time when I do it...then again, on this dumb train, I guess all we have is time to waste."

Not that she sounded like she was enjoying that, particularly.

"I don't think the hair color has much to do about it or I'd be a lot calmest person."

His mind immediately goes to his eldest son, his wife, her father and the twins.

"Well, on my end the redheads are actually the responsible ones."

Alright, maybe not the twins. They both were always knee-deep in all sorts of mischief when they were younger. It's the second part of what she said that gives him pause. He can understand the wish for the day to have more hours in it.

"Oh? What would you be doing if you didn't have to sleep?"

Renee just chuckled at Feanor's hair color comment, though her brows arched as he mentioned the redheads being the responsible ones.

"Really? Maybe I have someone to look up and aspire to, I guess. Maybe even my future--though no, no, I wouldn't wish more of your family coming here. I mean, you might be happy to see them, but...being here isn't anything I'd wish on anyone."

Mostly because she's terribly, terribly bored most of the time...

"Probably studying. Or reading. I didn't get much of an education where I was from. I was working on it, still, but I hadn't actually finished it. I'd like to. Even if I didn't have to sleep so much, I'd get further!"

"It may sound odd but I don't mind being here. It's actually an improvement to where I was for last... for a long time."

That's being dead. He was definitely more bored, and miserable, there than here.

"Studying? What were you studying if I may ask?"

So a fellow seeker of knowledge. How interesting... Now, you have his full attention.

"Uh...you don't know what high school is, probably..." Renee trailed off at that, brows furrowing as she thought, and thought fast.

"Makes me wonder just where you were, you saying that." She chuckled a little, but then shrugged. "Basic sciences--chemistry, mostly. Physics a little, mostly with how they applied to my powers. Mathematics, English linguistics, uhh." There were probably other things in her GED that she wasn't thinking about at the moment, especially since she wasn't looking at the booklet, either.

"I skipped too much school when I was actually in high school. Not because I wanted to, just...problems at home. So before I came here, I was trying to pass an exam that said I've got the equivalent of a high school education, so I can move on to college. Not that I know what I want to take in college, but at least I could say I went, you know?"

Fëanor nods.

"Indeed, I don't but I think I can imagine a place of learning," he says with a smile. It fades a little when she says she's curious where he was before but it's back as soon as the topic is dropped. Especially, that what she says sounds more interesting the more he listens. It makes him wonder what else he must have missed by being kept away from the world for so long.

"I'm sorry to hear you had problems at home." He can understand. He had some, well, turbulent family time on his record too. It was more like the-world-is-on-fire but let's stay with turbulent.

"Do you think you could request books on those subjects here? So you can continue your studies?" Whoever holds them hostage will have to release them eventually and even if they don't at least it's something to do.

"In all truth, I'm not sure if anything I know may help you with your exam but " he pauses thinking "Maybe linguistics. It depends how much of an overlap with the grammatical rules there can be with your language and mine."

See, Renee, if you've ever needed an expert on linguistics, you've got one.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Pete has asked for books for his studies...so yeah, I probably could, I don't see why not." No, she hadn't thought about that at all, and so there's more than a hint of embarrassment on her face.

Renee brushes off the comment about trouble at home with a shrug. "My dad liked alcohol way too much, let's just keep it at that." It avoided the sordid stories about Don Corbin, and that was just the way Renee liked it.

"As for the linguistics stuff, if you want, we could always try it. Couldn't hurt." Not that she could ever get credit for Elven, but it was definitely something to pass the time...if Feanor could get past the fact that her pronunciation would probably be absolute garbage, at first...

There are things he'd happily forget ever happened. Quite a lot of them starring him in the main role. Curious as he is, he would never inquire about some else's painful past. Some things are better left out of the light.

Fëanor can tolerate a lot from people who genuinely try their best.

"See, that's something to occupy time that won't be completely useless."

At first ... and then she'll put Tony Stark to shame speaking flawless Quenya in front of everyone. Just watch her.

Or they can always try English. He would never pass a chance to learn a new language.

"Well, we can always try, right?" Renee shrugged at that. "I dunno how I am about teaching if you want to learn English, but my grades weren't terrible. I failed out more because I was absent way too often."

And that's another story entirely.

"So is this what you do to keep from going stir-crazy here on the train? Bake things?"

"It never hurts to try," Fëanor says with a slight nod.

"No, there's actually a different reason for my late-night baking." He smiles as if he was sharing a secret with her. Though, it's probably not a secret anymore at this point.

"I am trying to bribe my son to eat more. He sometimes forgets that there are such things as meals and they truly happen more often than once a week."

It's a family thing. He can't say he's completely innocent himself. The only thing that keeps him eating regularly is the fact that Red team is on kitchen duty. So he's got plenty of reminders.

Renee stared at Feanor for a moment--mostly so she can be sure he's not pulling her leg. The elf didn't seem the type, but even some of her more straight-laced teachers back at the Institute managed, just because while she can troll with the best of them, beyond that? She's kind of serious, and thus, she can be kind of gullible.

"He forgets, huh? You want another volunteer to remind him? Or you know, I can pack it away, I can always bring some snacks along and offer some over. Sometimes it's easier with someone like that, to give 'em little meals more often than trying to get them to stow three squares away."

She never had a problem with an eating disorder, but there'd been at least one girl in high school who had, and Renee wouldn't push, just give her snack packs, when she could spare them. Little things like almonds or trail mix, stuff to give energy...and calories, if necessary.

Fëanor might have said that half-jokingly but the matter is serious and he treats it as such. He wouldn't be haunting the kitchen in the middle of the night if he thought otherwise.

"He does," Fëanor says with a sigh. "Our perception of time is different than that of men." He pauses because that's definitely not all. "But I do worry that's not the only reason." He can't say what is and that just adds to his worry. He hates not knowing and not understanding.

The offer surprises him though. He wasn't expecting it. He's not used to asking for help. To have it offered without asking, even less.

"That...might be a good idea."

"Well, all I can do is try, right? Even if he doesn't take it from me, might be enough of a reminder that he ought to eat." Not that they're really strangers on the train, but while Renee knows Feanor and knows her roommate Curufin's one of his sons, she doesn't know the rest of his family on the train.

Even if this will change that. If this son brushes her off a bit, it's nothing Renee will take personally. She can infer there's history with this one. Even if it's not history with her, she can understand that sort of thing.

Kind of like human-mutant relations, back on her world. One never quite knew what they were going to get.

"You might actually succeed in shaming him into eating. It's quite probable he'll be too embarrassed to say no if offered."

As deceptive as it sounds, it's a win by his standards.

One day Fëanor will have a conversation with his son about the reasons for this situation. The root of the problem. But not yet. He would not shy from it but he's not exactly eager to rush it either. He needs all the friendly people he can get before that happens.

He nods with a smile. "Thank you."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea ever, but hey, I guess it's the spirit behind the thing. He needs to eat." Though that might end up with Renee attempting to ferret out the reason behind why Feanor's son isn't. If it's just forgetting, that's one thing, but there's always the chance it's a different reason. A deeper problem.

Not that she knows that the father's thoughts are following that direction.

"I don't want to shame him. But a little push in the direction of remembering, or eating on his own...encouragement? Sure. I'll do what I can. And you're welcome. I'm gonna...try and sleep again, though. Thank you for the food!"

Renee wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep, but at the moment, she at least felt like trying.

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Hey look, it's a Tony log

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wrap?

fin!