[closed] all that ice up in that grill

[pyrafect]

WHO: Pyra and Xie Lian
WHERE: Pyra's ramen shop
WHEN: 2/1
WHAT: cooking
WARNINGS: none for now!

[ It's all fun and games until someone starts a fire, and it's not Pyra that's the one who is responsible. ] ....Ah?

[ She turns, the smell of something burning not at all unfamiliar to her, and-- ] Xie Lian?

[ HOLY SHIT BOY, that's quite the fire you've made-- ] How did you manage to burn water?

[ Why???? How?!

Anyway, she's stopped slicing up the vegetables and instead is rushing over to help contain the flames. Fortunately for her, she's not at all bothered by the heat or the fire when it licks her skin, nope-- she's going to be shooing him away to stop the catastrophe in the making. C'mon, she got this ramen stand from a wish! She doesn't want to lose it now! ]

Comments

[holycurse]

I'm really not sure how this happened, er--I'll get some water!

[He lets her shoo him, sleeves rolled up, a ladle in his hand, looking rather at a loss for a moment before rushing to get some water to put out the....water.]

1/2

[pyrafect]

[ It's a total mystery as to how this happened.....! It must be some of is god-powers at work, turning water into fire.

But Pyra is going to take this into her own hands, hoisting the pot off of the stove and tossing out its contents onto the street. With it flipped, the water at the bottom of the pot serves as a self-extinguisher to the fire dancing at its surface. ]

[pyrafect]

[ All that remains is steam.

Straightening up, dusting off her hands, she turns and smiles. ] ...Well. I'm not sure how that happened, but why don't I give you another task?

[holycurse]

[--Oh.

Well. Throwing it out works too...though he can't help feeling that throwing anything out is a waste....let's just push that feeling back for now, yes. Just gonna stand here, holding this bowl of uncooked water. Yeah.]

Whatever you suggest, I'll gladly do it! [He sounds a little awkward saying that, but her smile's keeping him positive here.] I suppose it won't be a fire-related task, haha...

[pyrafect]

[ The water will return to the sky to rain down on the earth so see, no waste!! ]

How about...

[ Ah-- she has an idea. ] Let's skip making the actual meal... and go straight to dessert.

[ She'll lead him back inside. ] Have you ever made mochi?

[holycurse]

[Following!]

I've never heard of it--dessert has never been much of a priority in my previous attempts at cooking, I must admit.

[Generally he was more focused on surviving? Gosh he rarely ever gets to eat desserts, the suggestion's kind of making him excited.]

What sort of dessert is this mochi? I'd love to try it, whatever it is!

[pyrafect]

Sweet rice cakes. If you've never tried them, then you're missing out. They're essential to have after eating ramen, so we should make a few...

[ She pauses for a moment, thinking. ]

We'll use an easy recipe, to keep things simple.

[ And then she rummages through a few cabinets, bringing out some ingredients: glutinous white rice four, potato starch, sugar....

And two aprons. One for him, and one for her. ] But first, you'll need to put this on. It can get kind of messy...

[holycurse]

Oh, rice cakes do sound good! And ramen too, to be honest...

[There's so many non-Chinese foods in Chroma, it's like an adventure for his (poor beleaguered) taste buds! But we're focusing on the making part here, so he watches carefully as she pulls out those ingredients, and--gets an apron, okay.

Putting it on...] These ingredients do look like the messy kind. It looks easy enough to make though, so I'm sure I can handle this well enough! [Fistpump!]

[pyrafect]

[ She paces the apron over herself, tying it in the back neatly. With that all set and done...!

First up is making the dough. She doesn't have the rice, just the rice-flour-- but that'll be good enough even if it's not completely made from scratch, so she'll begin cutting a portion of the flour into a bowl and pouring water into it. ] ...Here. Try mixing these two ingredients first. I'll slowly add the sugar.

[ THREE INGREDIENTS. He can't mess that up, can he?

BUT nevermind that. As they're making this, she'll be preparing the next step, bringing out a sifter and a sauce pan. ] I'm guessing gods don't have to eat in the first place, do they?

[holycurse]

Alright. [He takes the bowl, mixing everything together--everything seems good so far, though he might be stirring a little harder than he should be...

His gaze turns thoughtfully upwards as he considers her comment.] Well, I suppose some don't necessarily need to...certainly none of them can die of hunger as far as I'm aware, but I feel hunger just as strongly as anyone else. [A small laugh as he looks curiously at that sifter, still stirring.] Not having to eat would be nice, wouldn't it? Then we could eat only for pleasure, rather than out of need.

1/3

[pyrafect]

Right, we could. [ She agrees casually. ] But even with no need to eat instead of eating food ourselves, I think it would be better to cook for others instead.

It's really a joy to cook and bake, especially for those close to you.

[pyrafect]

I've only recently learned how to, and... [ She seems about to say something, but then--

Ah, the way he's mixing it is.... ]

[pyrafect]

Stir the batter softer, Xie Lian. [ She says, setting down the rest of the sugar. ]

Like this.

[ She'll step beside him, hand going to the spoon just below where he grasps it, showing him how to stir. Learning by demonstration is very important! ]

[holycurse]

It would be nice if people enjoyed my cooking... [He trails off, staring off into the middle distance...

....and gets pulled right back by that reminder.] Oh! Was I stirring too hard? [He lets her take over spoon control, adjusting according to her movements, so that when she lets go he can keep going at that same speed.]

I never thought the amount of force used in stirring would be something that needed regulation.

[pyrafect]

Of course.

[ She tells him, and when it seems like he’s got the amount of pressure needed, she’ll let him have the spoon all to himself. ] Sometimes it’s not even how much force you use, but they way you mix ingredients— like the difference between stirring and whisking— which is what we’re going to do next.

[ She takes a mesh strainer out, positioning it over the sauce pan. ] Now, pour the batter through here; we’ll be whisking it over a low-medium flame.

[ A pause, and because she definitely caught that “It would be nice if people enjoyed my cooking” bit, she says: ] And don’t worry about messing up. We’ll try as many times as needed to get it right.

[ She’s not going to give up on him! ] Shouldn’t others be doing the cooking for gods, anyways? I can’t exactly see you as having had much practice.

[holycurse]

[What's whisking...cooking seems more complicated than he thought, with its different terms and mixing methods and...low-medium flames? He watches her position the strainer, looks down at the concoction in his hands, and--well, alright.]

Like this? [as he starts pouring it all in at once.]

Most gods have servants, yes; my lack of experience would be partly due to lack of a kitchen though, I think.

[Homeless life!]

[pyrafect]

Mm, a little more slowly-- ah, good. [ She'll give her nod of approval when he gets it right.

She'll be the one whisking the heated batter. ] Oh, well... that's nice. Do you get to choose your servants, then? [ Is there a Ziprecruiter for gods' servants?? ] I'm sure many would enjoy working for you.

[holycurse]

Yes, those working under us are all chosen by their gods and taken in to serve them. I can't afford any myself, but then I'm not sure the master of rain has any either, so I'm not necessarily the only one without.

[He says this cheerily enough, as he watches her whisk. Whisks sure look strange...he kinda wants to dip his finger in the bits of batter left in his now-empty bowl, but.

Maybe when she's not looking. Yeah.]

[pyrafect]

[ She's going to be stirring this until it's just the right thickness.

In the back of her mind, she wonders if god-society is anything like human-society.... or even what the gods might even need of servants in the first place, if it's not to enact out their divine will on their behalf.

And as a "benevolent servants of our father".... How magnanimous we are, to sunder the world.

Except Xie Lian is, well, she's sure he wouldn't want the world destroyed, so. UH MOVING ON.] Maybe you don't have them... because you don't need them. [ She smiles cheerily. ] And having no servants means they won't end up getting into trouble on their own.

You should opt for a... body guard instead. [ Yep. ] Someone who will be by your side, always, to protect you. And keep you out of trouble.

[holycurse]

Ah...haha, well, it would be a little strange for a martial god to have a bodyguard, I think--after all, our job usually involves protecting our believers. If I couldn't even protect myself, then I wouldn't be much of a martial god, would I?

[He can imagine literature gods having guards, perhaps, but...he licks a bit of dough off his spoon.]

Most gods have them to assist with paperwork, or with various tasks; particularly busy gods might have them assist in handling prayers. [Fond memories of when he was busy enough to split prayers with his servants...but they're higher gods than he is now, aren't they? With servants of their own and everything.] Anyway, even if I could afford an assistant now, I wouldn't have any work for them to do.

1/3

[pyrafect]

[ O-oh. Paperwork. Administrative things. Hah. That's actually fairly funny to picture. ]

You could always post to the community network here and ask for volunteers to act as guards or assistants, maybe. Even the god in my world has-- [ Turning to him. ]

[pyrafect]

[ .....Did he just lick the spoon. ]

[pyrafect]

[ She just laughs. ] Hey, now. No spoiling your dessert with... dessert!

[ She'll be transferring the thickened dough back to the bowl. ]

[holycurse]

Oh no, I really don't need any, especially not here--

[And then she laughs. What's wrong with licking the spoon!! He's not actually offended or anything, just laughs along with her.]

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself! It tastes quite interesting though, I have to say. [Gonna just steady that bowl for you there, yes!]

[pyrafect]

Mmhm, mmhm... It's very sweet, but in my opinion it balances off a savory meal quite well.

Now we're going to have to be careful with this, because it's awfully sticky. Use this potato starch when rolling the dough so that it doesn't stick to your fingers.

[ She instructs, slicing a piece of the dough off for him. ]

Form them into small disks... I'll prepare the bean paste.