milliways_bar | (no subject)

Current Mood: cheerful

Entry tags:

(no subject)

There are few things better in winter than curling up under a bunch of blankets beside a roaring fire, with a mug of hot chocolate (with marshmallows, of course) and a stack of new books.

Especially when it is all covered with a sense of getting away with something.

This would be the opinion of ten-year-old Rae Seddon, who is enjoying it immensely.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Would you like a cupcake with your hot chocolate?"

That's Dr. Lecter, and he's carrying a plate of cupcakes already, and a steaming cup of nice, strong coffee.

The girl looks up from her book - which looks to be a properly grisly tale - and smiles at him.

"Ooh, yes please!" she says, delighted at the surprise offer. She scoots her feet and the blankets cocooning her legs to make room on the couch, should he wish to sit. "Thank you, Dr. Lecter."

He sits on the couch, with a pleasant smile, and offers her the plate. There are three different kinds on it, all pale and tartly fragrant. One kind is decorated with coconut shavings, one with candied rose petals, and one with fresh mint leaves.

"May I ask what you're reading?"

Rae sets down the book, and accepts the plate with a smile. "It's Immortal Death. Just came out this week, back home," she says, excitedly, "but I was able to find it in the library upstairs."

Since the library trip this week has been canceled.

"Dr. Lecter, these are almost too pretty to eat," she says, trying to pick which one to try first. For the novelty of it, she goes for the one with the rose petals.

That cupcake contains rosewater in the icing, and French rose petal jam in the cake part, and overall tastes like roses smell, with added sweetness.

"What's the book about? Vampires, of course, but what's the story?"

She takes a careful bite - as careful as one can with cupcakes - and smiles as she chews. "Oh, that's lovely!" she says, once she has swallowed. It isn't a flavor she has experienced before. Not as food, anyway. "Is... it's not rosehip jam is it? Mom sometimes makes that from the roses in our garden, but this tastes different. Like the actual flower itself."

It's a mystery to ponder, as she nibbles one of the candied rose petals.

"No vampires have shown up yet, but I'm just getting started on it, so I don't know what will happen next."

"It's rose water, and French rose petal jam," Dr. Lecter says. "What does the blurb of the book say?"

Rose petal jam... Rae takes another bite, considering the flavor. "It's very good. I've never had anything like it." She'll have to remember it.

The girl then marks her place in the book with a colorful bookmark, and offers it to him. A heroine with a mysterious past, the threat of a Dark Other, intrigue and convolutions galore, betrayal and loss and a twist ending that, from one critic's endorsement, will help redefine the genre. "It doesn't give much away. Which is good - I like being surprised by books when I'm reading them for the first time."

"Very wise," Dr. Lecter says. "After all, you can read a book for the first time only once in your entire life. When you re-read it, you will discover new aspects and details you overlooked the first time, in the heady rush to get at the story, but it's only ever new once."

"That's what I like the best about the good stories - being surprised the first time, and then catching all the clues and little references the second time through. This one is really good so far, but I don't know what's going to happen. Aimil's read it already, but she promised not to tell me."

"But she told you it's good?" Dr. Lecter asks, picking a cupcake with mint leaves for himself.

"Oh yes," the girl nods, taking another bite of the rose cupcake. "She was excited for me to read it so she'd have someone to discuss it with. I was supposed to get it from the library yesterday, but that didn't happen. So I got it here."

Which is even better, in Rae's opinion. She can read as long as she likes!

"Why did the library not happen?"

"Oh, I got grounded," she says with a shrug.

The usual.

"How tedious," Dr. Lecter says, his voice expressing sympathy. "Why this time?"

"Getting caught using the oven without adult supervision," she answers. Not for actually using it, but because she got caught at it. "I didn't feel like cereal and milk, and I had helped Charlie make his breakfast pie recipes loads of times, so I made that."

"What goes into that breakfast pie?" Dr. Lecter asks.

"Caramelized onions, eggs, shredded potatoes, cheese, kale - or spinach if we don't have any kale - herbs, a little milk... and salt and pepper," Rae replies smiling. "Charlie's version has sausage in it, too, but we always make a smaller one that doesn't have any in it, for me."

"Oh, that sounds very nice for a breakfast," Dr. Lecter says. "On that pie, you can probably keep going all day."

Rae nods, "It's a good breakfast. And easy to make, if you know all the steps."

Which she does, as her mother, in Rae's opinion, should be able to see.

"I've made it before, but I guess Mom wasn't expecting it. I figured it'd be one less thing for her to worry about, since she was out early to get Kenny to the doctor, and Charlie was down at the coffeehouse already."

"What was wrong with Kenny?" Dr. Lecter asks.

"Ear infection," Rae says, sympathetically. "He cries a lot because it hurts."

"So she's probably on edge and missing sleep as it is," Dr. Lecter says. "How old is he now?"

"Nearly four months," Rae says, adding a little wryly, "his crying had calmed down a lot, but when his ear is hurting, he lets everyone know it."

"That's very little," Dr. Lecter says. "People are on edge anyway with such small kids around, so she probably didn't stop to think and realise that you're perfectly able to handle cooking and baking."