Welcome to Gaia! ::

Since her younger brother had been her escort she figured he needed something other than her words to show how much she appreciated his help. So Niiemh thought that he might like a gift. Of course Sorin was hard to shop for. The boy didn’t really like much in the way of materialistic things, which was a rarity in their family really. Most of the younger siblings like dolls, clothes, or shiny things. The older siblings liked things that were practical, like weapons for their trade, or a new outfit to show off. So it left Nii with a very difficult decision. What would her little brother like?

Well, after a few hours of thinking about it the answer had smacked her almost right in the face. Food! Sorin loved a nice home cooked meal. Niiemh wasn’t the best cook though so she had to track down the cook they’d brought with them on the trip. Which was another thing that proved difficult since she wasn’t really supposed to be out of her brother’s sight the whole time per Merle’s request. As much as she understood the precaution she also hated it. So she had to wait until her brother was busy with something else to sneak away and locate the cook in question.

Once she found them though, things went a bit smoother. Nii told them her idea and they agreed to help out. They had the ingredients needed and the know how to do as she asked. Of course the dancer planned to help as much as possible without ruining the meal so that it really would be a gift from her.

“Alright Miss Niiemh, if you’ll peel the potatoes there then I’ll get the water boiling. Careful not to cut yourself.” They instructed her.

Now, while Nii wasn’t much for the kitchen she did understand the basic concept of peeling fruits and vegetables. So that was a task she could easily do. She grabbed a small paring knife and picked up the nearest spud to begin working. Getting started was slow as the skin kept wanting to break off and she’d have to start her peel all over again but eventually she had a long peel going and most of the white vegetable was now visible. By the time the cook came back and saw that she was getting along quite well they smiled at her.

“Good job. We’ll need about six of those.” They seemed patient enough with her as they set to work on the harder jobs.

“Alright, I can manage that.” Nii replied.

She continued to work in silence afterward, only answering in small nods or shakes of her head as needed for the simple questions that were asked of her. Niiemh was giving her peeling job all of her focus so she didn’t accidentally cut her finger. It would be just her luck to sneak away from Sorin only to reappear with cuts and have him think he failed at keeping her safe or something. Niiemh didn’t want to upset her brother.

“Okay, potatoes are all peeled.” The dancer said as she set the paring knife down.

“Ah, that’s good. Can you cut them up so that they fit in the pot better?” The cook was busy with chopping the roast so they had meat to go along with the vegetables.

“Sure.” She happily chirped at them.

Of course she had to pick the knife back up but at least she still knew what she was doing. Nii found a chopping board to use and placed one potato on it so that she could set to work on cutting it into pieces. This task proved more amusing for on lookers as she had to put her full weight behind it each time. The spud was winning in terms of strength. The cook eventually chuckled at her.

“I think those potatoes are winning Miss Niiemh.”

Her cheeks reddened a bit before she stared down at the vegetables. “For now. I’ll get them cut up.” There was no way she was going to let them get the best of her right now. Not when she was doing this for her little brother.

“Just don’t hurt yourself. I’d hate to have to tell Mr. Sorin I let his sister get hurt.”

Niiemh made a small noise of frustration before she went back to work. After another five minutes or so she had the six spuds defeated and dropped into the pot in pieces. From there the cook did most of the work as it was seasoning and spices that Nii knew nothing about. After that the fire took over all the work since Niiemh couldn’t produce heat enough to cook the meal.

“Alright Miss Niiemh, it should be done and ready in about an hour. Go find your brother and bring him this way for his surprise.” The cook told her.

“Thank you!” Nii smiled at them then headed back to where she’d left her sibling.



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