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 Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:18 pm
...in which Sheridan tries not to blow up the kitchen.
He had tried so hard to get that dish right, spending several nights in the common cooking area of the dorms. He had chosen it because he thought it looked relatively simple (and did not involve oil that could catch fire), but it was proving far more difficult than he thought.
The actual cooking was not so difficult, how hard was it to steam rice after all. But when he tried to put the fish, rice, and various other ingredients together, it always seemed to fall apart.
Despite his many attempts, what he'd ended up with was a lopsided pile of rice, fish, and vegetables with a piece of seaweed on top. At least it still tasted okay, right? Sigh, maybe he should have chosen something else...
But it was too late to try another dish right now. With a resigned sigh, he cleaned his mess in the kitchen and gathered the not that great looking but hopefully still tasty dish.
He'd pick something different next time, one he would hopefully have more success with. But for now he was walking down the halls of the monster dorms, outside, and into the demon dorms, making his way to one door in particular.
A hand raised, a light knock on the door.
"Xiu? It's Sheridan."
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:07 am
Things had been...complicated, lately, and all Xiu wanted was to get the off of her mind for a while. She had been panicking and floundering before, but after her chat with Shun, the Baku felt as if she had some kind of direction in her thinking now. The only problem was...she was thinking about this a lot. If she wasn't distracting herself in some way, her mind would drift back to those particular thoughts, and she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else because of the uncomfortably anxious feeling that would overcome her.
It was a good thing someone had decided to come and distract her.
Though she hadn't really been expecting the dragon, Xiu was not at all displeased when he suddenly showed up at her door. On the contrary, she was always happy to have a friend over, and she was certain that--assuming he wanted to do some baking or hang out in general--it would help keep her mind off of certain things.
Pulling open the door, she offered Sheridan a smile, moving aside to let him enter. "Sheridan! What brings you here? And please, come in!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 5:23 pm
Sheridan smiled as his friend, stepping through the door at the invitation and into the room. As he did he looked around the room, before turning around to face her. As he did his head titled, something about her seemed...different, though he wasn't sure what it could possibly be.
"I brought this for you."
He held up the plate with the 'sushi' he had made, or at least attempted to make.
"I know it's not pretty, but it tastes okay."
A slight flush tinted his ears, feeling self-conscious about the dish he had made. He really did hope it tasted okay, he thought it did, but then he wasn't a very good chef.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:46 am
Blink.
Blink blink.
At once, Xiu felt her stress wash away as she suddenly laughed, leaned forward to look at the sushi with a bright grin. "It looks good, Sheridan! You made this by yourself?" She wagged her tail, looking at the lopsided pieces with an approving nod. Okay, so they weren't really...elegant, but it was a good attempt! Besides, it was the fact that he had tried at all that made her happy.
"Should we try it?" She suggested, straightening up, "And really, Sheridan, you did a good job!" She was clearly a lot more cheerful now, pleased by her friend's visit and the dish he had brought, as promised.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:45 pm
Oh please, oh please don't hate it. Sheridan hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until the moment he sighed in relief. She liked it? Or at least she didn't not like it.
He smiled, nodding in response to her question.
"It didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but I'll do better next time."
It seemed it was still a bit nervous, still worried that she wouldn't like it once she tasted it. His tail twitched, looking from Xiu to the plate, then back again. Okay, deep breath, he held the plate out.
"Would you like to try the first piece?"
He was too nervous to try it himself.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:02 pm
"Oh, sure! Um, give me a second, okay?" Smiling, she went to the kitchen to grab two pairs of chopsticks, handing one of the pairs to the dragon when she returned. She wasn't sure if he could use them--she had been surprised to learn that some people didn't use chopsticks--but if not, she could have easily grabbed him a fork. Looking at the pieces thoughtfully, she carefully picked it up, careful to keep her hand below the sushi in case it fell.
Grinning, she eyed it for a moment before popping the whole thing into her mouth. Fortunately, it was just a small piece. As she chewed, the expression on her face was undiscernable--she just looked very thoughtful, and said nothing for the whole duration of her chewing.
After swallowing the piece, she was silent for a few moments before suddenly grinning again, wagging her tail happily. "It's good, Sheridan! See, you got it!" They would have to work on the appearance of the dish, but it tasted pretty good!
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:55 pm
Blink blink. What were these? Sheridan eyed the sticks Xiu had handed him curiously, unsure of what they were or what they were for. What was he meant to do with them? Oh, they were for eating with? Blink blink. how curious.
Oh um... He was watching her, his tail twitching nervously, seeming to grow more nervous with each moment that she remained silent. Was it okay? Oh no, it wasn't okay was it, she didn't like it! He had taken a step backward, his mouth opened to blurt out his apologies.
Wait, she liked it?
"You really think it's okay?"
Maybe he wasn't quite convinced, but there was certainly a tone or relief in his voice, the twitching of his tail slowing. Okay, so it was his turn to try it, that was if he could figure out how to use those sticks...
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:44 am
"It's wonderful," She assured him, reaching out to pat his shoulder, "Have faith in your cooking, Sheridan! You're really pretty good!" Their last cooking session had gone off without a hitch as well, and the food had turned out perfectly. Xiu just wanted the dragon to have a little more confidence in his cooking abilities.
But...hmmm. How were his baking abilities, she wondered?
Before she could dwell on this for too long, she realized that he was staring at the chopsticks oddly. Ah, could he possibly...? Smiling, Xiu rushed off without a word, returning with a fork in hand. "Um, here you go! You can use this instead!" She exchanged the fork for the chopsticks, before gesturing towards the sushi that he held. She looked so expectant that it was almost like she was the student, and he was the teacher.
"Go on..!"
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:39 pm
Sheridan was still staring at the chopsticks, still not certain how they worked. It was only when she offered a fork that he finally looked up, gratefully accepting the fork, though maybe a bit disappointed he had not figured out the sticks.
"We don't really use utensils at home."
It wasn't that a dragon's hands weren't just as dextrous, if not moreso than a humaniods, it was just...well, forks were rather impractical when you spent most of your life above the ground, or when you were the size of, well a dragon.
Well at least he knew how to use a fork. Or at least he would have thought he did, but that didn't stop the piece of sushi he poked from falling apart at the touch. Ah...
A few attempts later, he had finally scooped the piece of sushi onto the fork and subsequently into his mouth. Hey, that was tasty, perhaps moreso than he had expected.
"It is good."
He smiled, a twitch of his tail. Maybe he wasn't such a bad cook after all, he definitely needed to work on presentation though...
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:02 pm
Xiu grinned, waiting until Sheridan managed to pick up a piece and try it. She was pleased by his reaction, giving him an enthusiastic pat on the back. "See? You did really well! I-I mean..." Looking down at the sushi, she grinned sheepishly, "We...we'll have to work on your presentation, but aside from that, it turned out well."
Her expression suddenly changed to a thoughtful frown. Well, she wasn't doing anything right now, and if Sheridan wasn't busy, then maybe they could fit in another lesson. "Hmm...did you have plans today, Sheridan?" Eyes widening, she looked up at him hopefully. "I was thinking we could try baking today, if you're up for it!"
At the very least, it would definitely help her take her mind off of...things.
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Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:13 pm
Sheridan couldn't help but chuckle.
"I suppose I did start a little ambitious, it was a lot harder than I expected."
Who'd have thought that putting fish, rice, and seaweed together would be so complicated. Maybe next time he'd find a recipe that would let him just throw them all in a bowl together. Ah well, he'd get it, he just had to keep trying...and start a little simpler.
Baking? His head titled curiously.
"Is that different than cooking?"
Well he didn't have any homework or tests to study for, and he had come down here to see her after all. He nodded, giving her a small smile. Yeah, he could try some baking!
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:25 pm
"But...did you have fun, at least?" Cooking wasn't always fun, she knew, but Xiu liked to think that it was rather enjoyable herself. It could always be tiring and frustrating when things didn't turn out, though--at the very least, it didn't look like Sheridan was about to give up completely on cooking, which she took as a good sign.
Smiling at his question, Xiu gave a small bob of her head. "Baking is different, yes! Like...spookies and cakes! Baking is more about the reactions between the ingredients." It was always fascinating for her to watch as those puddles of liquid batter slowly baked and puffed up into cupcakes and muffins.
"We'll start simple. Umm...what would you prefer to make? Spookies? Cupcakes? ...Maybe some bread?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:45 pm
Sheridan nodded. He supposed he had a good time trying to create the dish, though to say he hadn't become frustrated on more than one occasion would be a lie. Still, he was glad he had at least tried.
So, baking was different, but how? It was still making something you ate right? Reaction between ingredients, hmmm, sounded very...scientific. He could do scientific!
"Cupcakes sound good."
As did spookies. But as much as he enjoyed spookies, cupcakes sounded more appealing at that moment. And maybe, just maybe, cupcakes would last longer than the last batch of spookies and and his cat had devoured in less than a day and a half.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:33 pm
Pleased that Sheridan seemed willing to give it a go, she gave an approving nod at his choice. "Cupcakes are pretty simple! I'm sure they'll come out well." What could possibly go wrong, right? It was an easy enough recipe.
Moving towards the kitchen area, Xiu motioned for Sheridan to follow. She immediately got to work, setting out the usual ingredients and utensils that she usually used. "I guess...we should make an icing too? I do have a nice scream cheese icing recipe that I could dig out..." Did Sheridan like scream cheese anyways? She looked up at the dragon expectantly, eyes wide.
"Also...chocolate or vanilla cupcakes?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:19 pm
Oh, Xiu, don't you know one should never ask 'what could go wrong'? Doing so is only asking for trouble!
Fortunately Sheridan was not thinking of this as he followed Xiu into the kitchen, setting the plate with the remaining 'sushi' on the counter. Tail twitching, he watched her curiously as she moved around the kitchen, wondering what she was doing and what each ingredient and item was for.
Icing? Oh, that's right, cupcakes usually had some sort of icing on them.
"Scream cheese? I don't think I've ever had that."
As for the other question, well that one was easy. Chocolate, definitely chocolate.
"Chocolate."
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