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

[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.

[scarred_grin]

"A lot of guys don't," she says. "There's the whole cultural thing where anything inside the house or related to kids is the woman's responsibility, and the man'll mow the lawn once a week and maybe take the trash out, but only if his wife nags him into doing it. I won't insult you like that. We are both perfectly capable of taking the trash out, or washing dishes, or doing laundry or whatever. If you see something that needs doing, do it, or ask me to help. I'll do the same."

[ostro_goth]

"Good," Teja says. "Speaking of it, and making sure all is done, shall be he key. Also, safety and well-being of Egil."

[scarred_grin]

"He's first," she nods. "We need to be clear on where he is and that he's been fed and taken care of. Beyond that, though, I figure we just see how things go. And if some things end up getting forgotten about, maybe we'll have to assign those things to one of us to take charge of, but I think we'll be fine."

[ostro_goth]

Teja nods, and looks at Egil cuddling Ferdinand on the bed. "Yes," he says. "He comes first."

[scarred_grin]

"When he's older, he can help out too," she says. "He can put his toys and things away when he's done playing, he can put his dirty clothes in the hamper, things like that. I don't want to make him feel like he's gotta do chores, but like... you know. this is a family, and being part of a family means everybody does their share."

[ostro_goth]

"That is part of what family ever was," Teja says. "I am glad,to hear that has not changed."

[scarred_grin]

"I'm not gonna make him do things he's not able to do," she says. "Not like Weyland would. But there's a cultural thing where the mom does all the work, and is angry because the dad and the kids don't do their part unless she yells at them, and everybody acts really put-upon, and everybody's miserable. I don't want to be like that. Not with you and not with him."

[ostro_goth]

"It is not necessary to be miserable, indeed," Teja says, "And I do not wish us to be, for such a puny thing. Fate, time and reality do their best to make us thus, in any case."

[scarred_grin]

"Worry about the big things, and the everyday stuff will take care of itself," she nods. "If problems come up, you tell me, that's all. Don't let things fester and just hope they'll go away."

Egil is doing the affectionate-head-bump thing to Ferdinand. It doesn't work quite as well as it would if he were a cat, but he tries.