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Summary: Ahmed decides to help Christopher with some cooking while Taylor and Shane decide the kitchen is a good spot to be.
Date: January 11, 2012
Log Title: Crock Pot Wednesday
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Kitchen
This kitchen was designed to feed large numbers of people, and looks it with its bright white walls and stainless steel appliances. The stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher are all larger than normal. There is an island with stools around it for people to sit and eat around along with a table for twelve by the windows in back. Along the wall is a hole in the wall looking into the dining room so food can be passed back and fourth. Anything you want to cook or eat in the kitchen you will find the food and supplies to do so.
It's winter and that means it's the time of year for warm comforting food! It's a crockpot day for Christopher as evident by the four large crockpots on the counter. Two of them seem to be simmering away, slowly cooking something that brings savory scents across the kitchen. Currently the culinary teacher stands at the stove browning some ground beef as he prepairs to make some chili, which is fairly obvious from the spices, tomatos and beans that sit next to one of the empty and open crock pots.
That peculiar mix of tex-mex spices is what draws one fine cuilinary nose into the kitchen, and as silent as a cat can be, though not in form itself, Ahmed slips into the facilities that are (in his mind) the best part of the school by far. Instead of saying anything, he starts by washing up, and then gets on an apron and pulls out a cap… which he settles on his head backwards. From there, he just leans on the central counter and watches the teacher at work. Almost cat-like, one would say.
Odours are something that Taylor can pick up on from a fair distance, and so the teen has become quite interested in the smells from the kitchen, peering through the door and equally silent to Ahmed, though coming from a different direction. The ocelot-like student approaches slowly, as if stalking, and freezes any time the Christopher looks at them, until properly addressed.
The doors to the kitchen burst open and Tara bursts in, with her hands on her hips and announces, "I'm back! And I smell…" and with this she takes an overexaggerated intake of breath through her nose… "Chili… The Tara HUNGERS!"
*Clomp clomp clomp clomp* With Tara too busy to make an entrance, rather than move away from the door, the result as Shane opens is reasonably predictable. Thudding headfirst against the door, she backpedals a half-step on heavy armored boots, and with one hand pulls down her headphones, the other coming up to press against the new sore spot, and a baleful look thrown at the blind girl's back. All to the room-comfortable-volume tune of FIRE IN MY VEINS! FASTER AS I GO! I FORGOT MY NAME! I'M A DIRT TORPEDO~!
Giving Ahmed a sideways glance, Christopher chuckles to himself in amusement. "Well if you're looking to be my sous-chef then you might want to introduce yourself and then ask if there's anything to help with instead of just looking at me like that." His words are kind in tone though when he says them and not a hint of annoyance. Taylor just gets a raised eyebrow and an amused shake of his head. "Say hello, I don't bite. You don't need to stalk up on me like I'm prey. And…" His attention is then turned to Tara. "The Tara will have to wait, this Chili will take at least four hours to cook. And I haven't even started the chili yet. Those two both have soup, that isn't yet finished, in them." He says before muttering. "Students and their paitence." Then hearing the sounds of heavy metal music through someone's head phones, Christopher can only asume it's one person, especially with the boot clomps. "Hello there Shane, welcome to the most popular room in the mansion."
Ahmed's ears perk and shift, nowhere near to the degree that Taylor's can, but enough that there's a bit of silliness there as he replies, "Oh… sorry… Ahmed, Sir. I didn't want to disturb someone else at work. I wouldn't want you to burn any meat or anything because of me." That being said, once it's clear what's being made, he moves over to the tomatoes and onions, selects a knife, and begins to clean and slice them for Christopher, taking his time to get all the pieces nice and even since it's a slow cook. Shane and Tara get a look from the pale-colored young man, and then a nod hello, as the blindness is not quite noticed yet, but one ear seems to trail on the pair as he then adds, "Is there anything else that needs prep for this, Sir?"
"Oh, er," says Taylor, now looking rather sheepish that the gold and black camouflage somehow didn't work in a white kitchen, "Hey, hello. Hi… I just smelled some things." The teen shifts awkwardly and then glances aside, "I'm Taylor. Taylor Marinov. I sometimes don't realize when I'm acting… weird."
Tara visibly deflates as she learns that there is no chili to be had. "Aw, man," she says, and slumps down onto one of the bar stools that line the central island, thus clearing the way for Shane.
Still seething, and now with a good-sized red mark standing out on her forehead, Shane comes into the kitchen entirely, snagging a clean dishtowel on her way to the refrigerator. "You got food cooking," she says by way of explanation to Christopher. "Bound to happen." The freezer is opened first, a handful of ice cubes collected for her forehead. Once the pack is gathered up, the fridge is explored for something to eat.
"I'm Mr. Parker-Mayfair, you can call me Mr. Parker for short. Also helps with keeping me and my husband from getting mixed up." Christopher says offering a hand to Ahmed and then to Taylor. "Well the onions do need to be cooked a bit first, just get them slightly browned and the tomatos, can you put them in the food processor to get more of a puree from them?" He asks before going back to browning the beef. "Well Tara I can get you one of those awful microwable things of Chili if you're that deperate. I'm sure they have some of those somewhere around here." He then looks over at Shane, his brow creasing in worry. "Is everything okay Shane, that looks like you got a nasty bump."
Ahmed accepts the handshake, and then gives a nod, "Yess-… Mr. Parker". He seems to have thoroughly explored the kitchen, and has the food processor out with relative ease and begins setting up to turn the tomatoes into the proper consistency by not just running the thing, but pulsing it and checking it over and over. Once it looks halfway good, he adds in some salt and pepper before finishing the job. Then it's back to the stove with just a touch of oil and the onion is put down to get a slight brown on them from some low heat. Then, for some inexplicable reason, he walks over to Taylor, bumps his shoulder against him, walks around the other side, and does it again, before returning to work.
"Oh, you have a husband," says Taylor after shaking the teacher's hand, "A husband who is also someone from the school?" The teen seems to consider that a moment, before turning towards Shane and offering her a wave, and a, "Hey." And then seems a little surprised at this shoulder bumping, ears flicking a couple of times with eyes trained on Ahmed.
"S'fine," Shane says, still rummaging about in the kitchen. "Justa bump." Emerging with the makings of a fairly thick sandwich, she shuts the door with her foot, moving toward the island to start putting it together. "Yup," she says, answering Taylor's question. "…And a salon in town."
"Thank you very much Ahmed. It's appricated and it's nice to see a fellow student with cooking interests. I'm the culinary teacher here if that wasn't obvious already." Christopher says with a good natured smile on his face. "And yes Taylor, I have a husband who works here at the school as well. He goes by Dr. Parker-Mayfair." And there's the slightest hint of defensive tone to his voice as the says that. At Shane's words there's a blush from Christopher and he waves his hand before turning off the burner to drain the excess fat from the ground beef. "Yes yes, I'm also a salon owner."
Ahmed finishes the puree and checks the onions before replying, "I just want to say this is the coolest kitchen I've been in short of the one at the synagogue I used to go to… y'know… before this. But anyways… I know this is a totally weird question… but do you get Kosher or Hala meat?" Turning his head once more to watch Shane a moment, he returns to his work, and then takes the just browned onion off to set while he works on another batch.
"Oh, cool. Cool…" says Taylor, nodding at Christopher's response, "And owning a salon?" The felinoid student looks back up towards that seemingly intentional mussed up headhair that still rests at shoulder length, even though it's taken on the colour of Tay's fur. "I'll keep that in mind…" The students peers at the ground beef and then at the onions, "Are those getting mixed?"
Sliced corned beef, pepper jack, red onions, garlic, lettuce, tomato, mustard, mayo, and a dollop of thousand island dressing, eventually mashed between two thick slices of pumpernickel and transferred to a plate. Leaving the pile of lunch where it is, Shane starts putting the food back away, when an adrenaline-powered scream and a wet splat cut off the music still pulsing from her earphones. Shoulders hunched, she turns her iPod off, dark red spots forming on her cheeks. Pressing the icepack to her head, she shuts the refrigerator, collects her plate, and scuttles toward the table, shooting a '…What?!' glance around the room.
Christopher shakes his head. "I don't believe it is Ahmed, sorry. I don't usually think about that, I just grabbed about three pounds of ground beef and sausage from Trader Joes. Though in that crock pot there is a potato leek soup I made with a soy milk so it's vegetarian, vegan actually." He grins and smiles at Taylor. "Yes I do own a salon Taylor. And I give any student here who wants it a free hair cuts, dying, styling, anything they want. One of my secrets is that I use my powers to dye my clients hair." He says winking. "And yes they are getting mixed, it's typically how a chili is made. Though I know beans aren't something any Texan would put in a chili but then I'm not from Texas nor are we there right now." At Shane's 'what' glance though, Christopher just gives her a grin maybe intentionally to embarass her a bit. "So how was your holiday Shane?"
Whatever Ahmed was going to ask is stopped by the questions towards Shane. All of her off-putting seems to keep drawing his attention towards her, as he continues to work on food prep for the man in charge. It's work he barely has to pay his full attention to, while he begins perusing the spices that are out on the counter, even sniffing them and in some cases tasting them, the cumin getting the best response, the earthy taste appealing to his more middle eastern palate.
Taylor frowns slightly at being told that, yes, when making chili, the onions get mixed in with the meet, and then teen peers again at the meat that's cooking. The teen's ears flick every once in awhile towards Shane, due to the music that's playing through the headphones, but just answers Christopher, "I should get my hair dyed the way it used to be sometime. Something familiar, at least."
"….Fine," Shane says, looking over her shoulder at Christopher. "Dads say hi. Mom couldn't take more'n Christmas off. Y'know… LA normal." And with that, she manages — in her mind, anyhow — to successfully forestall further conversation by taking as large a bite of her sandwich as she can manage.
"I don't put a lot of spice in my chili, just cumin, chili powder, dried mustard poweder and a touch of oregano. I think too much spice just drowns out the other flavours." Christopehr says as he dumps the ground beef along with Ahmed's tomatoe puree into the crock pot. "Just put the onions in there when you're done." He says as he starts to brown some ground sausage next. "Sorry Taylor if you seem to dislike that but it's next to impossible to make something that every student here will love. Thus I'm trying to make two different soups, the vegan potato leek, a chicken corn chowder, the chili and then the last will be a chicken stew." He says to her before smiling. "When every you wish to bother me to have the colour of your hair changed just let me know hon." Before shruging a shoulder. "I don't know what LA Normal is, just New York normal but it sounds about the same. I actually had all the kids home for a busy holiday."
Ahmed shoots a look back at Taylor, "Hey, at least be grateful you can still eat it… all these wonderful foods and spices… and well… digestive requirements are a bit different now. I get sick on well-cooked meat." Even the vegan soup gets a grateful smile but an apologetic look from the young man as he finishes up the onions and dumps both batches into the crock pot. Then it's off to wash what he used in the sink and out of the way, "I got to see Mutant Town over the holiday. Nice place. There was this really cool couple who put me up that knew some second cousins of mine. And my roomie got me this really cool and comfortable sweater top for the colder days here."
"Er, well, no, I can't eat onions anymore, actually… I used to eat 'em in salads and stuff but I found out at the hospital they make me sick," says Taylor to Ahmed, watching them get mixed together before heading over towards the fridge, "Like… induce vomitting sick. But yeah, I know, it's understandable, it's a big school and stuff." The student glances towards Christopher and says, "You have kids?"
Shane busies herself with her sandwich for the moment, listening to the conversation flowing around her. For the moment, the slight young mutant seems content to remain silent.
Christopher is about to say something to Ahmed but Taylor seems to cover what he was about to say. "Well the fact that it's a big school is a part of it Taylor. There are several students, like yourself and Ahmed, that have dietary restrictions some from their mutations and others from just lifestyles and upbringings. Then not to mention food allergies." He says before smiling at Ahmed. "It is a nice kitchen here, I think I prefer my kitchen at home since it doesn't feel as….industrial at times." He says as he works on browning the ground sausage. "As for kids I have a few, all adopted though. Eddie and Jared are adopted though Jared is my husbands biological son, then there's Kevin, he's a student here." He explains. Shane gets a glance from Christopher along with a quick smile as he continues to cook.
Ahmed just replies softly, "World needs more people like you, Mr. Parker. Then maybe we'd all have an easier time of it." He then goes off into the cold storage area, and comes back out with about eight or ten fresh chicken breasts and begins picking out a few light spices for them, looking back at Taylor, and then asks, "How raw do you need it?"
Taylor looks at the chicken breasts now, eyes locked onto the, until being asked the question by Ahmed, "Oh, er…" The teen seems a bit embarrassed, "It's better if it's a little raw, but still warm, you know?" The ocelot kid looks towards Christopher, and then nods, "That's cool of you, adopting kids. Sucks when people don't have anywhere to go."
Shane stuffs her face further, bobbing her head in answer to Christopher's smile. Having little to contribute, the green-haired girl concentrates on her sandwich, at least outwardly. Conversation, clearly not her strong suit.
Christopher shrugs a shoulder. "Well it's not like I'm going to be having any kids short of adoption with my husband so, it's nice to have a family. I like being a dad." He says with a proud smile before waving his hand at Ahmed. "Oh hush, don't you start sucking up to me before you're even in my cooking class." He says obviously a bit flattered. "Well if the world did have more people like me, every one would be a lot better dressed."
Ahmed begins whipping up a quickie curry-spice rub, the scent of allspice rising into the air as he works rather deftly with the chicken, the stuff designed to sear on as a crust and keep the flavor. Then he begins heating a pan with oil rather well, showing skill despite his youth. Over his shoulder towards Shane, he suddenly says though, "You have nice eyes, you know… when you're not glaring at sandwiches and stuff."
Taylor sits down at the table, turning the chair slightly so that the teen's tail can just flop down onto the floor. The feline looks towards Christopher and then says, "I'm pretty well dressed, I'd say…"
Whatever Shane was expecting, it was most certainly not to be complemented on her eyes. Thus it is, that she spends a few moments trying to figure out which pipe her corrent bite of sandwich intends to go, and another few attempting to convince it where it *should* be.
Christopher finsihes the sausage and dumps it into the crock pot with everything else and mixes it all together with the spices before turning the pot on and pushing it back a bit towards the wall. "I'll be back in a bit to finish the chicken stew, for now I have to go check up on my salon, just a quick call. I leave the kitchen in your hands Ahmed." He says gving a nod to the student. "It was a pleasure meeting you two." He says as he walks over to Shane and places a hand on her shoulder to whisper something only she can hear. "Just say thank you, and it's true Shane, you're eyes are quite pretty." He says before standing upright and giving Shane's shoulder a final squeeze before heading out of the kitchen.
Ahmed starts searing off chicken breasts one at a time, adding a curry scent to the air as well, mingling with the chili spices nicely as he adds with a shrug, his back to the girl, "Not like I'm hitting on you or anything… but… just kinda noticed you had pretty eyes, allright? People don't notice those because everyone goes for the three Bs. Boobs, Booty, and Bling. When's the last time someone heard someone say anything about how nice Lady GaGa's skin is… or whatever." Sort of babbling as he works, and then once all eight are cooked, he settles half on one plate, half on another. Half-cooked chicken… dangerous to others, delicious to the felines.
Taylor listens to what Ahmed says regarding the three Bs and then looks down in a self-examining way, perhaps somewhat self consciously, before looking back up and towards Shane, "Oh, by the way, I've got my room all set up, so I've got my Sailor Moon dolls all set up and stuff in their scene. I don't have a roommate, so I've got plenty of space to put stuff."
Shane, likewise, looks down at herself, eyebrows drawing together briefly… while she finishes corralling and swallowing her bite of sandwich. After another moment spent catching her breath, and scrapeing her arm over watering eyes, she coughs once, sniffs, and looks up. "…Thanks?" Blinking, she shakes her head. "Sounds good, Taylor. Check it out, Iunno, weekend?"
Ahmed gets some foil and wraps up his meal into a to-go pack, and then says over his shoulder at the others, "You guys have fun, allright? I'm gonna take this and eat at the dorm cafeteria." Not explaining why, he turns and heads towards the door, pausing only to say, "You're welcome. See you around Taylor… maybe we can… hang sometime. Cat stuff."
Taylor nods at Ahmed and says, "Oh, yeah, see you around sometime. For hanging." The teen silently mouths that to repeat the awkward phrasing in a chastising sort of way when Ahmed goes, standing up to approach the plate that Ahmed set aside. "And yeah, this weekend, that sounds cool to me. I'll probably be setting up more of my stuff."
Shane finishes off her sandwich, clearing her throat once the last bite is swallowed. "Cool," she says, getting to her feet. "Got any costume you wanna see on? F'I got it, I'll wear it."
"Man, I dunno…" says Taylor, thinking about that, "If you had, like, Lucca from Chrono Trigger? That'd be unreal amazing. Have you ever played that?"
Shane snorts in amusement, shaking her head as the dish is dropped into the sink. "Naw… Would be fun t'try, though… Yeah, I played it. Got it on m'computer, actually. The PS1 version. Good stuff."
"Yeah, it's pretty fun…" says Taylor, considering that for a little bit longer, "Do you usually do, like, girl cosplays, or do you do any crossplay?" The feline student shrugs lightly and says, "I know lots've girls do…"
Shane lifts a shoulder, glancing down at herself. "I ain't 'zactly got th' figure for pulling Lulu, so yeah. Don't even think about it, much. Vincent's my favorite, got an Alucard costume too. Hellsing, not Castlevania."
"Oh, yeah, that's pretty cool. I don't think I've got a figure for really pulling off much of anyone, I think," says Taylor, considering that, "Wouldn't mind seeing the Vincent costume, that'd be pretty great."
Shane nods once, brushing off her hands. "Need to redo the hand'n'shoes, but that's later. 'Kay then. Vincent. Cool. Weekend, then." Glancing at the clock, she frowns. "Almost class now though. …Gotta go. Later."
Taylor nods and looks at the clock as well and says, "Oh, yeah, I better get going too… seeya later, Shane."
