Entry 004

[chippedsoul]

Characters: Kazuma Asougi [Jekyll/Hyde]
Campaign: Break
Format: [ brackets ]
Open
Summary: Catch-All for the Break


A - The Doctor is out [Network]

I will not be meeting with clients in person until further notice. If you must make an inquiry for some medicine, use the journal to contact me. I will let you know when it's ready to be picked up.

-Disciple

B- A nightly stroll in the forest

[Anyone who happens to be wandering around or living in the forest, might hear a disturbance during the nighttime. It doesn't occur every night, but when it does, it sounded like someone was cutting down the trees. There's also a low rumbling like thunder that occasionally accompanied the sound afterwards, like a rhythmic thumping. Looking into the source, they will find themselves at the edge of the Index. The ground appeared unstable, with trees uprooted and large boulders that have been split into smaller pieces scattering about the area.

This warzone was only found along the edge of the Index, and every few nights, a new area would turn into a disaster area. If someone manages to catch the person in the act, it turns out to be the Disciple, or was it the Disciple? The low rumbling noise was from him ramming trees into the barrier or throwing boulders at it. Whatever he could pick up and throw, which was almost anything, he was directing them at the barrier. A few times he was crazy enough to punch the barrier.] I need...to go... [If you manage to get in close enough, you can hear him mumbling about going somewhere. It doesn't seem like he's quite all there himself. Are those pajamas he's wearing?]

C-Wildcard
[This post is for the entirety of the break, so feel free to poke me on Discord or silentdrifterz if there's something else you want to play out instead or make your own starter!]

Comments

[ricebird]

[Her head shakes vigorously between her hands.]

N-no it's not... You came all this way and... I'm wasting your time and... I can't...

[chippedsoul]

You're not wasting time. You actually held the wooden knife. [He spent months just trying to sneak onto ships to get to Great Britain, this is nothing.]

I'm willing to take as much time as you need. If you want to stop, we can do that.

[ricebird]

[A few deep breaths to calm down, think... and then she nods...]

Maybe... maybe another day...

[Still, even though the fear's still there, Disciple's words are at least helping the shame and self-loathing ebb away.]

[chippedsoul]

[He nods.] That's fine. [He tries to offer her his handkerchief again.]

In that case...would you be willing to instruct me on how to make niku-jaga? [She did prepare all those ingredients. He can at least try to make something for her.]

[ricebird]

[A few more breaths, and she nods as she reaches for the cloth.]

Yeah... Yeah, I can do that... Thank you...

[chippedsoul]

[He sits there with her, and waits quietly. A moment of silence can be a luxury to someone, and he's in no rush to push her to do anything until she was okay.]

[ricebird]

[A few more deep breaths, and after wiping her eyes dry with the handkerchief, she slowly hoists herself back up and hands him the handkerchief back.]

Thank you. Um... we can put this in the ice box for now. And get the beef back out.

[chippedsoul]

Sure. [Pocketing the handkerchief, he will go ahead and put away the dough and take the beef back out.]

You said this dish is from Japan? [He tries to make conversation with her, now that she's back on her feet.]

[ricebird]

[A nod.]

Yes, it is.

[She doesn't know quite enough food anthropology to explain on its history of Fleet Admiral Tōgō trying to emulate the British Royal Navy's stews, but it is quite tasty. And the small talk is slowly bringing her back around.]

[chippedsoul]

Do you know any other dishes from Japan? [It sets out the ingredients, awaiting instructions.]

[ricebird]

Yeah... My mom's restaurant serves a lot of Japanese dishes, so I've eaten a lot of them at least. [And, you know, just by virtue of being born and growing up there her whole life.] Some of them I'd actually have to look up to get the details on how to MAKE them.

[Like the niku-jaga. VERY thankfully, this is a world where books are in no short supply, even cookbooks, and a library especially generous to Aspects.]

So to start... we want to soak the konbu seaweed in the 200 milliliters of water while we work. [Easy enough, with the sheets sitting next to a bowl with a pre-measured pool of water.] Then we want to boil some water for the shirataki noodles; after you cut them to size, boiling them for a couple minutes will remove any bitterness.

[chippedsoul]

[He'll go ahead and get the water going on the stove then and work on the noodles, letting Kotori handle the seaweed. Hopefully she'll be ok with a knife being present.]

What is your favorite?

[ricebird]

[Depends on how confident he is; as long as he looks like he knows what he's doing, she'll be fine.]

My favorite...?

[Disciple. Disciple no, this is like asking her to pick a favorite child. She is like Bubba Gump on steroids and no shrimp based limits. You will be here until nightfall, if now dawn.]

Well... rice and miso soup are pretty much THE staples of any meal at home, and I love them both a lot. Then again, noodles are delicious too, like ramen which are thin and curly wheat noodles made with alkaline water, or soba which are really toothsome buckwheat noodles, or soft and gooey udon noodles, or somen noodles which are also wheat-based like udon but a lot thinner. And there are so many ways to prepare them too! Of course there's hot soup for all of them, but you can also serve ramen noodles cold with veggies and cold meat or fish and sesame sauce for hiyashi chūka, or grill udon noodles with salt or sauce- oh and don't be fooled by the name! Yakisoba actually uses wheat noodles instead of soba noodles more often than not! And of course there's a lot of different toppings you can do for all of them--

[SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE? AND THIS IS JUST THE NOODLES.]

[chippedsoul]

[He might seem too comfortable around a knife, but that just means less chance of a disaster?

And he's realizing very quickly his question had opened pandora's box. He could barely follow her when she gets really in-depth with the ingredients. What the heck is alkaline water? Water is just water.] You have a lot of favorites. [Somewhere in that long winded explanation, the Disciple manages to speak up. At least she seems to be in a better mood.]

[ricebird]

[It's water mixed with pre-baked baking soda like you would corn starch.]

Well... there's a lot of good food out there to love, isn't there?


[Just don't get her started on all her favorite ways to have RICE.]

[chippedsoul]

Hm. There is. [He's not annoyed or anything. Just amused and glad she's doing better.] Maybe it be easier to ask if there's anything you don't like?

[ricebird]

Hm, well... I used to not like wasabi. But then my mom told me it was disrespectful to the food and the cook to not eat everything on my plate. So now I can eat just about anything unless something went REALLY wrong when cooking it.

[Like burnt rice, or donuts.]

[chippedsoul]

That's a respectable way to approach it. [The noodles have been boiling in the water for a bit, so he takes a strainer, believing they were ready.] Is this good?

[ricebird]

[Nod nod.] That should be fine for now.

Next, peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. You also want the peel off the edges with edge of the knife and soak them in a bowl of water until we're ready to cook them.

[To supposedly keep the sharply-cut edges from bumping and damaging each other while cooking and to remove excess starch, respectively.]

[chippedsoul]

...Potatoes. [Why is it always potatoes? If he wasn't peeling them, it was all there would be to eat. He peels those potatoes vehemently, as if wanting to get it over with. At least it's not a bag full of potatoes to peel and cut this time.]

[ricebird]

[Yeah, definitely not the reaction she expected.]

Eh? Do... you not like potatoes, Disciple-dan?

[chippedsoul]

Hm? [He looks to her and then to the potatoes.] ...Not exactly.

[ricebird]

Uh well... I guess for now it's okay; since the potatoes are in big chunks, I can just make sure your bowl doesn't have any. Hm... maybe taro might work instead next time...?

[chippedsoul]

I don't hate potatoes. [Let's get that point across.] This is a fine amount.

[ricebird]

Mm? Then... why did you look unhappy about them? If you don't mind me asking, I mean.