(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

Suffice to say, it's been an eventful night off from work. Not that Sunshine is really eager to recount those events; however successful they ultimately were, they weren't enjoyable. They were not enjoyable enough that she's going to have to stay at the bar for a few days in order to be presentable at work tomorrow. She may or may not have caught up on lost sleep by then.

So there's a battered baker flopped on the couch, this afternoon. With her red hair, bright blue shirt and lime-green shorts, her skin decorated with the yellowy-purple of bruises, reddish scabbed-over scrapes and patches of white bandages, she is very nearly a rainbow. A very sore rainbow, with a sizable ice-pack numbing what might be a pulled muscle in her back, and a heating pad comforting whatever the vindictive hells she managed to do to her right shoulder.

Any movement - even just to reach for her cup of tea - makes her muscles protest, so she may just have to be content with reading the latest issue of Vegetarian Gourmet and letting her tea get cold.

Comments

[scots_wolf]

"There are magazines especially for nice vegetarian food?" Urquhart says, approaching and looking at the cover.

[sunbaked_baker]

"There are, apparently," she replies - Rae was pleased at the discovery, herself. "Though this particular one isn't from my world." Tragic, really.

She shifts the magazine to her left hand so she might offer it up to him to look at. Her right shoulder currently complains at most movements, so semi-lefthandedness it is!

"I'm looking for recipe ideas - something a bit out of my usual."

[scots_wolf]

"Cooking or baking?" Urquhart asks, sliding his eyes towards the magazine. "May I have a look?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Cooking," she says, nodding and holding the magazine up for him to take if he wants. Her smile might be tempered by her current situation, but there's still a thrill of excitement behind it.

"A friend of mine brought me truffles." Truly, Christmas Solstice has come early.

[scots_wolf]

"White or black?" Urquhart says. "And do you aim for simple or complex?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"White truffles," she grins. "I'm going for something simple, I think, for my first tries. I've never even gotten the chance to see one before."

"I was looking at a recipe for spinach and egg yolk ravioli with a simple butter and slivered truffle sauce on page forty-two. There's one dish with truffles, eggs, wild mushrooms and a creamier sauce on the next page as well."

[scots_wolf]

"How much truffle do you have?" Urquhart asks. "You might start with something really simple -- plain pasta, with butter or olive oil and very thin slivers of truffles."

[sunbaked_baker]

"They're in a small bag, about so big," she says, holding out one hand upturned as though holding an invisible ball roughly the size of a softball or her two fists combined.

"My friend says he can get more, if I need, but I'd rather not ask. These are sick-makingly expensive, back home."

[scots_wolf]

"You just need a few thin slivers to get the flavour, so you can make a lot of dishes with that much," Urquhart says. "And yes, they are horribly expensive in any time or world I know of. How did your friend get at them?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"While visiting the moon," Rae chuckles. "Apparently, they're more easily attainable there."

[herr_bookman]

"You look terrible," the kid says, entering a controlled fall to sit on the ground and whap his back against the couch.

He rests his head on the least bruised part of her shin and grins at her through his bruises. "So we match. What are you reading?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"You look likewise, wiseass," she says, though she sets her magazine down enough that she can ruffle his hair with her left hand.

"It's a magazine. Vegetarian Gourmet. It has recipe suggestions, techniques and tips, and articles on fine foods from around the world, things like that."

[herr_bookman]

That she doesn't ask the origin of his injuries is noted--and greatly appreciated. Autor wrinkles his nose up against her hand, and winces. The hair-ruffling still annoys him, but he's too tired to bat her hand away.

Besides, he's almost getting used to it. Almost.

He yawns. "Expanding your repertoire?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I have to be equal to the task of using the ingredients I have," she replies with a slight smile. "I've never used truffles before, after all. Bar is keeping them fresh until I feel I'm ready."

[herr_bookman]

Autor perks up, grinning widely before he realizes he'll tweak his face. "Ow," he says. "What sorts of dishes are you thinking of? Have you done anything with them? How many do you have left? Do you need anymore?"

Then he sits back abruptly as if realizing where he is. "Right," he says, and clears his throat. "Good for you. I hope the dishes turn out well."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine flips through the magazine to a recipe she's found, then passes the magazine over to him. "Trying simpler recipes, first, to get a feel how to flavor reacts with other things. What I'm hoping to try is this one I found in here - spinach and egg yolk ravioli with a sliced truffle-butter sauce. A little bit of truffle goes a long way, so there is enough for some experimentation, if you'd like to be a guinea pig for some of the experiments."

[herr_bookman]

Autor tilts his head, blinking. "If I'd like to be a what, now? I mean, I know what a guinea pig is from my books, but... you mean you want me to eat the food?"

He furrows his brow. "I tend to have a limited palate. I don't know if I'd be the most discerning critic," he says, and shakes his head. "So eat them with me."

[sunbaked_baker]

"It means if you'd like to test out the results of my experimentation," she replies with a slightly wry look. "Captive guinea pigs are sometimes used in lab tests for new medicines or things, or so they say, which is where the expression comes from. A discerning palate is unnecessary in your case, anyway."

"You brought me the truffles, so it's only fair that you get to see," which in this case means to taste, "the results. But I'll eat some of it with you, certainly."

[herr_bookman]

Autor snorts, though he's wearing a sluggish smile. "So you're going to cage me until I agree to this? Goodness, Sunshine. I didn't think you were so violent to grumpy cats."

"I look forward to it," he says, drowsy. "In the meantime, is there anything else you need for them? Strange ingredients you can only get from the moon, for example?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I would never cage you, Autor," she says, sweetly, though there's a slight wince as she shifts against the ice pack she's leaning against. "I might poke you until you felt guilty enough to give in, but that's a whole different thing."

At least she's honest.

"I don't think there are any other ingredients I need at this time, but if you're ever on the moon and see some local foodstuff that catches your eye and interest, feel free to bring it along, and I'll see what I can do with it." Experimentation with new ingredients is always a joy.

[boston_bruiser]

She might hear the sounds of a chess game close by.

"No, that ain't how it works. You don't bring your queen out during the opening. It's like whipping your dick out on the first date."

Very close - right next to her, as a matter of fact. And it doesn't have to do so much with the sound the pieces make as it does Voodoo educating a particularly stubborn waitrat on the basics of strategy.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae glances up from her magazine, at Voodoo. He thoughts may run a strange tangent of But the rats don't have anything to whip it out of. They don't wear clothes. And do they go on dates? Do they court prospective mates? Give them flowers? Somehow lead up to... well, whipping their dicks out?

But this is a useless train of thought, and slightly disturbing, so Sunshine leans a bit to shift the ice-pack against her back. "Mind if I watch the game?" she asks. Chess was never really her thing, either.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo glances at Sunshine. "Nah, go ahead. It ain't gonna be much of a matchup, though. It's this guy's first game."

He jumps a knight over his pawns, positioning it just so to block off much of the left side of the board. He glances at Sunshine again, nodding at her bandages. "Bad night?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I've played many games of chess, but I'm still horrible at it," she grins, wryly.

"There've been worse nights." The words would've normally been accompanied by a shrug, but her shoulder isn't in a forgiving mood at the moment, the heating pad trying to ease out the soreness.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo grunts as the mouse advances another of his pawns. "Well, every day outta a body bag is a good day, right? Who - what didja tangle with?"