If your character and Kay need to get together for a personal conversation or some other kind of little-tiny-thing, and we're feeling too lazy to throw up a new post, we can spam it up in here.
You don't do much cooking, do you? [Everything you do with raw meat is kind of weird. When he's done, she nods approvingly.] Into the oven, and we'll need a timer...oh, here's one. [An hour and a half in the oven, and it should be done.]
Anyway, now we wait. And you have your pick of books, if you want to read. [Kay takes a seat at the table, near where she's left that stack of books for just this time.]
Ahh...not really. [And in the oven it goes! Despite his questioning of the whole process, Hiccup is rather proud of himself for making it this far, and he can only hope it will actually taste right when it comes back out of the oven.
He hops over to the stack of books, and peers at them curiously.] Any in particular you'd recommend?
That depends. [Kay has a lot of recommendations, really--she's only been here a few weeks, but she's already begun to amass a pretty good collection of books.] What do you like to read about normally?
Ahhh....[Vikings libraries were a little...sparse.] Well, dragons. But to be honest? I'd like to read something that's...very, very different from that. Sooo, whatever you think might fit that description.
All right, no dragons. I think all of these fit that. [Setting aside The Sirens of Titan, which is what she'll be reading, Kay lays each book in a line in front of him in turn.]
[The Greek Coffin Mystery by Ellery Queen.] This one's a whodunnit--a Greek man dies and--well, I can't give away the book, but there's a crime and clues, and then you see if you can solve it before Queen does. [Crossfire Trail by Louis L'Amour.] A western--main character has to save a ranch that belonged to his dead friend. [A collection of stories by Benny Russell.] This one is by a friend of mine. He writes about space explorers and the like, usually. [Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.] I liked this one a lot when I was a girl--it's the first Tarzan book. [The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.] The first Oz book, I loved these ones, too. [And a collection of stories she and Julius wrote.] And this one's one of mine, it's short stories, same kind of thing as Benny writes, though ours are set on Earth more often than his.
[It occurs to her that literary fiction would probably be more in keeping with the no-dragons rule, but Kay didn't think to bring any.] And you can poke through the shelves in my apartment if you aren't in the mood for these.
Ellery Queen, good choice. [She hands him the book, picks up her own, and they can read in the quiet until Hiccup gets bored or the egg timer goes off.]
[This whole mystery thing? Awesome. Totally and completely awesome. While they wait for the timer to run up, Hiccup utters a few gasps in surprise as he reads--he did not see that one coming. By the time the hour and a half runs up, he's completely enthralled in the story.
[Oh, Hiccup, we'll make a genre reader of you yet. Kay sets down her book, nodding.]
Done already. It's about lunchtime, if you'd like to eat some of it. [The rest, they'll use for soup.] We do have to let it sit for ten minutes or so after you pull it out of the oven, but after that, we can have some roast chicken and potatoes before doing some more cooking. [A proper Sunday lunch! Should be delicious.]
Sounds good to me, too. No point to cooking if you don't get to eat the results.
[Atta boy, Hiccup, atta boy. The chicken comes out looking great, and when the ten minutes are up--the longest ten minutes in the whole cooking process, in Kay's opinion--she gets out a knife and fork.]
Do you know how to carve up a bird? It's kind of tricky if you haven't done it before.
Probably not, but I don't think I've ever skinned a fish, so--[Kay shrugs. Her older relatives took care of that when she was young, and Julius has yet to go and catch their dinner out of the Hudson, so it's never really come up.] It'll probably be easiest if I just show you, and then next time you make a chicken, you can take a crack at it.
[So Kay carves it up--not with the greatest of ease, but manages, and sort of talks through how it goes. When she's done, they have two piles: one of meat and one of bones. Aside from the wing and leg bones, anyway.] Looks pretty good. Why don't you make yourself a plate, and I'll start up the broth? That'll take a while to cook, too.
[Hiccup nods, a little grateful he isn't going to have to do that part himself. After making it this far, he's a little terrified about messing something up now.]
S-sure! Got it. [He starts taking bits of chicken and loading it onto a plate.]
[Meanwhile, Kay has the dubious honour of taking all those chicken bones and ligaments, along with all the juices from the bottom of the pan, and tossing them into a big pot. As she gets things ready, she talks through what she's doing.]
This part's not hard, really, but the bones and all have to simmer for an hour, too, and we might as well get it started now. You want to throw in a carrot, an onion, and a stalk of celery if you've got them--of course, there's no reason you wouldn't have 'em here. They don't need to be cut up, just clean. Then enough water to cover everything, some salt...[Lugging a heavy pot of water over to the stove...] and you've got yourself the start of a decent chicken broth. [And then, you get to eat the meal of the triumphant, chicken and potatoes.] How is it?
[He should really be writing this down, but Hiccup has a good enough memory he thinks he can remember this later. And if not? Well, it's not exactly like he couldn't get in touch with her. He puts puts of chicken in his mouth and he listens intently.]
O-oh! It's good. R-really good. Best thing I've had in a long time, really. Definitely beats fish any day.
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[Action, May 22]
Anyway, now we wait. And you have your pick of books, if you want to read. [Kay takes a seat at the table, near where she's left that stack of books for just this time.]
[Action, May 22]
He hops over to the stack of books, and peers at them curiously.] Any in particular you'd recommend?
[Action, May 22]
[Action, May 22]
[Action, May 22]
[The Greek Coffin Mystery by Ellery Queen.] This one's a whodunnit--a Greek man dies and--well, I can't give away the book, but there's a crime and clues, and then you see if you can solve it before Queen does. [Crossfire Trail by Louis L'Amour.] A western--main character has to save a ranch that belonged to his dead friend. [A collection of stories by Benny Russell.] This one is by a friend of mine. He writes about space explorers and the like, usually. [Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.] I liked this one a lot when I was a girl--it's the first Tarzan book. [The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.] The first Oz book, I loved these ones, too. [And a collection of stories she and Julius wrote.] And this one's one of mine, it's short stories, same kind of thing as Benny writes, though ours are set on Earth more often than his.
[It occurs to her that literary fiction would probably be more in keeping with the no-dragons rule, but Kay didn't think to bring any.] And you can poke through the shelves in my apartment if you aren't in the mood for these.
Re: [Action, May 22]
Ah--hmm. I think...I think I'll go for...the one where you solve the mystery? That sounds pretty good, at least.
[Action, May 22]
[Action, May 22]
But the timer does ring, and his head snaps up.]
Oh, done already?
[Action, May 22]
Done already. It's about lunchtime, if you'd like to eat some of it. [The rest, they'll use for soup.] We do have to let it sit for ten minutes or so after you pull it out of the oven, but after that, we can have some roast chicken and potatoes before doing some more cooking. [A proper Sunday lunch! Should be delicious.]
[Action, May 22]
He beams! A real meal that's not fish! Oh, this was fantastic.]
Oh, y-yeah, I would! That sounds wonderful, actually.
[Action, May 22]
[Atta boy, Hiccup, atta boy. The chicken comes out looking great, and when the ten minutes are up--the longest ten minutes in the whole cooking process, in Kay's opinion--she gets out a knife and fork.]
Do you know how to carve up a bird? It's kind of tricky if you haven't done it before.
[Action, May 22]
Then at her question, he shakes his head.]
Nope. Iiii'm guessing it's not anything like skinning a fish.
[Action, May 22]
[So Kay carves it up--not with the greatest of ease, but manages, and sort of talks through how it goes. When she's done, they have two piles: one of meat and one of bones. Aside from the wing and leg bones, anyway.] Looks pretty good. Why don't you make yourself a plate, and I'll start up the broth? That'll take a while to cook, too.
[Action, May 22]
S-sure! Got it. [He starts taking bits of chicken and loading it onto a plate.]
[Action, May 22]
This part's not hard, really, but the bones and all have to simmer for an hour, too, and we might as well get it started now. You want to throw in a carrot, an onion, and a stalk of celery if you've got them--of course, there's no reason you wouldn't have 'em here. They don't need to be cut up, just clean. Then enough water to cover everything, some salt...[Lugging a heavy pot of water over to the stove...] and you've got yourself the start of a decent chicken broth. [And then, you get to eat the meal of the triumphant, chicken and potatoes.] How is it?
[Action, May 22]
O-oh! It's good. R-really good. Best thing I've had in a long time, really. Definitely beats fish any day.