Private The Great Luncheon

[Aris Noble]

"They are."

Was his only confirmation as she stood beside her to watch as she poured in the paprika. And poured it in. Without measuring. He practically vibrated with an unspoken need to ensure everything was measured properly, but he hit his tongue and said nothing on it. She knew what she was doing, right? .. Right? He was truly trying not to be hovering or doubtful.

"The right kind of seasoning can bring out the natural flavor better. I don't like over seasoning things." He paused, then for the first time looked actually nervous. ".. Not that I think you are. You're not, right? Of course you're not." He let out a nervous chuckle.

Mahsa

 

[Mahsa]

She was oblivious to the silent worries that whirled within the taller padawan’s mind, mistaking his posture and the energy that almost emanated from him as simple nervousness about how fixable this stew could possibly be.

"Likewise, over seasoning can be just as bad—or maybe worse?—than underseasoning." A considerable amount of the paprika had gone into the stew, enough to give the broth a slightly orange tinge. She had been just as liberal with the dried garlic and onion powders, while the ginger had been the only one properly measured out. One tablespoon, no more and no less.

"Hopefully not," A slight chuckle coated her words as she glanced back to Aris, the same soft smile that usually rested on her lips visible. "At least my nose says it should be fine, but we won’t know until we taste it again."

A nod was given towards the paddle that rested within the stew, trusting Aris to mix the contents carefully but thoroughly, as her attention turned to a few bottles of dried herbs. Like the ginger these were also measured out, one tablespoon each, and before long the fragrance coming from the pot shifted to a pleasant aroma.

Two spoons were carefully dipped in, each gathering a generous amount of the broth, before she held one out for Aris to take. "Ready?"

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Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

Her.. Nose?

Aris blinked. The slow, realization dawning sort of blink as he looked to the stew. All this time he'd been so focused on proper measurements to make food taste good that he'd overlooked one thing he was actually good at. Or, well, enhanced to be good at. Scent. He leaned over the pot, idly sniffing for a brief moment after she'd added all the spices within. It smelt.. Good. Right, even.

He could've measured it out with scent alone, couldn't he have?

He smiled a little as he took up one of the spoons, nodding his head in appreciation. He didn't explain what this epiphany was, but as he took the spoonful he realized that, yes, he could measure by scent.

"It's good. Not just better than it was, but actually good."

Mahsa

 

[Mahsa]

Her comment seemed to spark something within Aris, the padawan’s face slowly shifting as a new thought took shape within his head. She had no clue how good his sense of smell might be, but if even humans could afford to cook in such a manner then surely he could too?

"It doesn’t work for everything," A hard-learned lesson when Mahsa had tried to make some baked sweets once without a recipe. It’d been an absolute disaster and she’d learned science—such as chemistry—could have its uses in the kitchen. "But your nose and ears can be very helpful when cooking."

All of their senses could help, though some took longer to develop than others for such things. Perhaps that’s why some of the best chefs were older in age?

A happy humm escaped the Kazelrrian as she also tried the stew, delighted to find that the dry bitterness it held onto at the start had now faded away. "Crisis averted then, the younglings will go to bed today with their bellies full~ "

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Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

Not everything, but a lot of things. He was already thinking back to the festival with Zaiya Ceti and the foods he smelled there, he could make a lot of dishes work. Hearing too, though? The sizzle of food, would that actually give him some edge on actually cooking? He was going to have to work with it, then. Get better, make better food. Maybe even some of the kebabs?

"Good. .. I'm glad they won't be hungry. Or stuck eating something bad."

Mahsa

 

[Mahsa]

Her head nodded in agreement as Aris spoke, a satisfied smile on her lips as she turned off the flame and carefully placed the lid over the pot to keep its contents warm. "Mhmm, everyone deserves something yummy to eat~"

Food should be something that warms up the soul and comforts you after a long day, and she was glad the younglings here would never experience those unpalatable gruels she’d been forced to survive out of not so long ago.

"If you need help again don’t hesitate to ask," Carefully the Kazelrrian began tidying the area now that they had finished, picking up the various bottles of spices and returning them to their proper place. "I’m not the best at cooking, far from it I’m sure, but I’ll happily lend a hand if you need it."

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Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Teach me."

Aris glanced about the room before hurriedly going about the cleaning with her. The last thing he'd allow was for her to be the only one cleaning. If anything, he should be the one cleaning by himself. She'd saved lunch, after all. But at the same time as he picked up one of the pans to dunk in the sink for a scrubbing. Which he half focused on. "I want to be a better cook. I think Zaiya would really like something I made for her."

Mahsa

 

[Mahsa]

"Wha—whoa!!!" The last spice bottle slipped from her fingers as the unexpected request reached her ears, the panic that quickly overtook her finally subsiding as she caught the object before it smacked onto the floor.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips before the bottle was placed back on the rack, before the Kazelerian tilted her head slightly as she looked back to Aris.

Zaiya…? She was the last person that should probably be teaching someone else about cooking, any of the older and more experienced kitchen members here would do a better job than Mahsa probably could, but the reason behind it gave the girl some pause.

How could she deny him when his motivation for learning wasn’t that different from her own?

"A-Alright," She could only hope Aris wouldn’t regret this later. "I’m not the best at explaining stuff and whatnot… but I’ll try my best."

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Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris paused his washing, glancing towards Mahsa for only a brief moment as she fumbled the last spice container. He didn't want to stare, after all, when someone had a mistake. Why she'd dropped the bottle though had him more confused on exactly happened there. "Even just watching you is enough for me to learn. You've already taught me a lot just with this soup, so.. I think you're perfect to help show me." Aris smiled faintly as he focused up on finishing the pot he had been cleaning, then moved on to clean even more.

"If.. That's not too much to ask, I mean. You can say no."

Mahsa

 

[Mahsa]

With Aris taking charge of the dirty utensils and whatnot Mahsa directed her attention towards the counter and nearby areas around the stove. A damp cloth was picked up as the Kazelrrian carefully got to cleaning, doing her best to get as many of the spots around the burner where the massive stew pot now rested.

"T-Thanks…" She’d wanted to argue that she was far from perfect, accepting praise wasn’t something Mahsa was used to… but she had promised her master to try.　Burden.　She gritted her teeth as she buried the echoes of unpleasant memories into the back of her mind, ignoring the light sting around the corner of her eyes as Mahsa finished polishing off a rather stubborn stain on the metal.

"Eh? A-Ah no—" She was brought out of her thoughts when Aris spoke up again, and it took a second before his words made sense in her head. "—it’s not too much at all, I promise."

The dirtied cloth was wringed out before being placed into a nearby basket with others, due to be collected and washed later. A clean one was picked up as she joined him by the sink, using it to dry off the pot he’d just finished washing. "I’d be happy to share what I’ve learned… I just worry it might not be that much in the end?"

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Aris Noble ​

 

[Aris Noble]

"You saved this soup. Even just one more dish is more than I could hope for."

The more he learned, the better, in his mind. He wanted to learn as much as he could, from as many different people as he could. Maybe he should actually talk to Valery Noble about teaching him more things. Dad was good at a lot of things, but there was no denying that mom was just better at others. He hummed at the thought, now focused on the utensils as he cleaned then all. Perfect, as per usual. It wasn't even a need, he could just see how dirty things could stay even after a normal cleaning. "I guess.. What else do you know?"

Mahsa