OOM: Christmas dinner with Pyrrha and Egil

[ostro_goth]

[[Ctd. from here.]]

Teja opens the door, laden as he is.

His usually comfortable, creatively untidy room is still that -- there is even Ferdinand the cat, sprawling all over Teja's bed, fast asleep. There are simply two new doors, one of them leading to a kitchen that provides all the modern comforts and appliances as well as a space to comfortably sit and eat, the other leading to Egil's room in Loki's apartment on the 12th floor.

One better should not think about how that works.

Comments

[ostro_goth]

"Try everything once," Teja nods.

[scarred_grin]

"He makes a weird face if you eat pickles around him--it's kind of a strong scent, I guess--but I've never tried to feed him any, and he's never reached for them. Pickles aren't really a baby food anyway."

It's probably the vinegar.

[ostro_goth]

"Indeed," Teja says, "they are sour, and surely not pleasing to those not used to the taste. Are the plantains right this way?"

[scarred_grin]

"I like pickles--I never order any, but if I get a pickle slice with a sandwich, I always eat 'em," she says.

"Those look good. You just take 'em out, put 'em on the plate there, and put another batch in."

The stove area's a bit crowded now, as she transfers the meat to a pan and starts cooking it.

[ostro_goth]

He does as told, and finds himself pleased at being useful.

Ferdinand is still happy being petting and ruffled by little Egil.

[scarred_grin]

"This is one of Andi's recipes," she says as she stirs the meat. "It's like lasagna--you've had that, right? Living in Italy and all--but with the plantains instead of the noodles. We cook these, we layer them, and then we bake 'em for a bit to set everything."

So it's not all mysterious how things are going to go.

[ostro_goth]

"We did not have noodles in my time," Teja says, "but I have had lasagna, in Vinci, when I ate at an inn."

[scarred_grin]

"Good," she says. "'Cause if you hadn't had any, I'd have to make some for you tomorrow, and that might be a bit repetitive after having this today."

Even if they're fairly different dishes.

"I hope you like this. I know the... the flavor profile's probably different from what you're used to."

[ostro_goth]

"The things I am used to are simple, and surely have no flavour profiles at all," Teja says. "So I shall gladly try whichever ones you choose to make."

[scarred_grin]

"Everything's got a flavor profile," she says. "Unless your people just ate plain oatmeal all the time, in which case they still have a flavor profile, it's just really boring. Maybe they like things a little sweeter, or a little salty, or a little spicy, or they're not big on seasoning and just want the flavors of the ingredients to come through. This is kinda sweet and kinda salty in the different layers, so you get a range in every bite."

[ostro_goth]

"Ah, so that is what you mean," Teja says. "And no, we ate bread and meat much, and everything that the land offered fresh, and often what the ROmans around us ate, also. Moretum is typically Roman."

[scarred_grin]

"So you're gonna get a lot of foods that are probably nothing like what you're used to," she says. "But I know how to make a lot of things, and I like learning new recipes too, so I'm sure we can find lots of things you'll like. It's not gonna be all avocados and pizza."

Although those are important things too.

[ostro_goth]

Ferdinand is licking Egil's hair by now, and purring happily. Teja, casting a glance at the bed, smiles a little.

"I shall trust your knowledge of my taste, and of how to make food," he says.

[scarred_grin]

"You're gonna learn how to make grilled cheese sandwiches," she says, "and their slightly fancier cousin, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Omelets too, those are easy and you can put so many different things in them. That's all you really need, when I'm off at my hypothetical spy convention."

[ostro_goth]

"Why would you hypothetically convene with spies?`" Teja says, looking amused.

[scarred_grin]

"That's what I'm doing in our hypothetical scenario where I take your bike, and you and Egil are left to fend for yourselves in Italy," she says. "It can't be a hypothetical art thing, because you guys would be there too."

It makes sense to her.

Never mind that she's not a spy.

[ostro_goth]

"I see," Teja says. "A thing that you might go to, that you never would, so one may say you could, to make sure it is understood as such."

[scarred_grin]

"Exactly," she says. "I could be bedridden, or, you know, away being somebody else. Why I'm not there doesn't matter, just the fact that I'm not there and you can't drive into town and just go to a restaurant."

[ostro_goth]

Teja nods. "And I shall make sure I am prepared for such a case," he promises.

[scarred_grin]

"I can freeze things for you too," she says. "Make soups and freeze them, so all you have to do is cook them--he's just not at soup-eating levels yet. He will be, but in the meantime, easy things that you can both eat."

She turns off the burner under the pan of meat, and lets it sit.

"I like cooking. It's like knitting--sure, people need clothes like they need food. You can buy something ready-made, or you can have someone who loves you make it for you."

[ostro_goth]

"I thought," Teja says, "marriages no longer worked that way?"

[scarred_grin]

"Like what?" she asks. "Marriages work whatever way the people in them want them to work. That's the only rule, as far as I'm concerned."

Her views are a little unorthodox, though.

[ostro_goth]

"In the way that duties are divided, and so are rights," Teja says. "So it is not needed that each does everything, and gets in the way of the other all the time, and both buy too many vegetables."

[scarred_grin]

"I don't believe that because I'm the woman, I have to do woman things like cooking and cleaning. I don't have to do them. You're just as free to do them as I am. But I like cooking, and I don't mind cleaning--not because I'm a woman, but just because those are things I like. I mean, I'm also good at carpentry and painting, I can do yardwork, and I don't need anybody to kill bugs for me. We do what we're good at, and what we like doing. Everybody should be able to do basic cooking and cleaning, though. Especially when there's a kid involved."

[ostro_goth]

"I am used to cleaning up after myself, as I am a man, not a swine, and wish to live without filth," Teja says.