Saturday morning four-charrie breakfast post

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi walked into the Milliways kitchen and found a very polite westerner, a bratty magistrate and a zombie making breakfast. Or rather, the westerner and the zombie were making breakfast while the magistrate passed comment; he claimed he was 'banned from doing anything in the kitchen, ever' by his friend and landlord (lover, more likely, Ye Baiyi thought).

The westerner was talking almost as much as the official brat, but was working pots and pans and ovens; the zombie was quietly helping, but didn't manage to get a word in edgeways.

Ye Baiyi, of course, had no qualms at joining the conversation and tasting the food as it was being made. To contribute at least something, he brewed a pot of Yunnan Moonlight tea for everybody.


[[OOC: Apart from Ye Baiyi, there are Hannibal Lecter, Tan Fang, and Wen Ning in the kitchen and available on this post. Say in your tag whom you want, or join all four. Open until it scrolls off the front page.]]

Comments

any or all!

[little_pieces_of_time]

Max had been mildly surprised to find herself in Milliways, still in a bit of a daze. Had she really talked back to the security guard? Had she really talked him down? It doesn't seem real. It's only after she has opened the door to the kitchen - intending to make tea - that she notices the kitchen was already quite full. The realization startles her out of most of her daze. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't -"

Her voice trails off.

She didn't... mean to just walk in? Yes, she did.
Didn't think anyone was in here? If she had been paying attention, she would have known.

...so Max is unsure how to end that sentence.

[old_monster]

"Mean to come in and be treated to a free Chinese breakfast?" Wen Ning says, smiling.

"But now you're here, let us at least offer you some tea, if you don't feel like breakfast, which would of course secretly disappoint us," Dr. Hannibal Lecter asks. "Have you met everyone? Everyone, this is Max -- she's a brilliant young photographer. I take it you have heard of photography."

"Painting with light," Tang Fan says.

"Memories to carry into the future," Ye Baiyi says. What wouldn't he give for a photograph, just one, of his Rong Changqing, and of their Xuan-er...

[little_pieces_of_time]

It doesn't much to make Max's cheeks color, but unexpectedly warm welcome will do it, even without the brilliant young photographer remark. She has met most of those in the kitchen, even if only briefly in some cases.

"I would love some tea," she admits, grateful. "And... breakfast, too, if it's breakfast time here and it wouldn't be too much trouble."

It does feel like a strangely long time since she has eaten, anyway. Today has been... strange, to say the least.

[old_monster]

"We have Yunnan Moonlight black-and-white tea ready," Ye Baiyi says, pouring her a cup and offering it, politely, with both hands. "It's a white tea where the buds turn black in the process. Very flowery and aromatic."

"And you absolutely should have one of those little pancakes first, before the official breakfast is ready," Tang Fan says. "Shall I steal one for you?"

Dr. Lecter laughs. "I'm serving on up right away, no need for thievery. What kind of official are you anyway, to offer to steal things for people?"

Wen Ning chuckles and gets a little plate ready.

[little_pieces_of_time]

"Ah, thank you," Max replies, accepting the tea. "It smells amazing. I've been experiencing so many delicious new teas here, that I'll have to share with Kate next time we can get together for tea."

She's looking forward to such a mundane thing. Today has been anything but mundane.

"No stealing on my behalf," she chuckles at Tang Fan. "But thank you. I'm Max, like... like Dr. Lecter mentioned. Max Caulfield."

She still has to pause a bit, on the name.

[dipdyed_robes]

"I'm Tang Fan," Tang Fan says, "lower sixth grade magistrate at Shuntian Prefecture in the capital of our great Ming Dynasty. I solve thefts, normally. I only pretend to steal things from our own kitchen to tease my friend and landlord, Sui Zhou."

Pause.

"Dr. Lecter makes amazing dishes from all over the world."

[little_pieces_of_time]

"It's good to meet you, Tang Fan," Max smiles, shy but friendly. "I'm just... a photography student at Blackwell Academy, from the tiny town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon."

All she steals are images. Moments of time.

("Yeah! Get a close-up of Max!"
"Knock it off, Chloe!"
"C'mon, time for a picture, girls. Say 'pancake'!"
"Cheeeeesecake!")

"I've no skill in the kitchen, really, apart from enjoying the food that others make," she adds, wry, with a softer smile. "Sometimes documenting it."

("My turn with the camera!"
"Make me a star!"
"Just make me look young!")

[old_monster]

"Tang Fan here is, by his own admission, permanently banned from doing anything in the kitchen by his -- whatever," Ye Baiyi says. "So you can go and sit beside him and wait until you are given food worth documenting."

Which is now, because Dr. Lecter plates two little pancakes on the plate Wen Ning had given him, already prepared with a dash of sweet syrup and some fruit -- a slice of orange, a sliver of dragonfruit, and one physalis -- and passes it on to Ye Baiyi, who serves it to Max with a bow.

[little_pieces_of_time]

"Thank you," she says, appreciatively. "Oh, it's almost too pretty to eat."

Almost! It's a fine balance to strike. She lines up the most photogenic angle - look at the freshness of the fruit! The moisture on the dragonfruit flesh! The shine of the drizzle of syrup! Too perfect.

"I'm going to have to create a shadow Insta account for all the food I photograph in Milliways, I know it," she murmurs, tucking the resulting photo and her camera away again. "Can I ask... I'm not familiar with this fruit?"

The physalis is altogether new to her.

Wen Ning or Ye Baiyi or both, as you prefer

[alongfallfromgrace]

Wei Wuxian just wants breakfast. He wants breakfast, and he was feeling nostalgic for mornings in Lotus Pier, making congee in the kitchens with shijie for the youngest of their little sect members after early morning training.

Instead he finds a crowd.

Wen Ning is a friendly face, but seeing that unknown cultivator makes him wary. Mistress Sunshine would never forgive him if a fight broke out in the kitchens. So with a subdued wave for Wen Ning so he doesn't worry, he retreats.

Re: Wen Ning or Ye Baiyi or both, as you prefer

[undead_radish_seller]

"Escuse me a moment," Wen Ning says to the others, then grabs some pancakes and pops out of the kitchen door to find Wei Wuxian where he's retreated to.

"Wei-gongzi!" he says, offering the plate of pancakes. "You can come and join us if you like. The others do talk a bit much, especially the doctor, but the magistrate and the swordsman are quite friendly and hold no prejudice against resentful energy or fierce corpses."

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Ah Wen Ning, you are the best of us." Wei Ying laughs, accepting the plate and poking at the pancakes curiously. They're not scallion cakes, but similar enough to echo the idea.

[undead_radish_seller]

"They're called pancakes," Wen Ning says. "Westerners have them for breakfast. The batter is all runny at first so you have to fry them in a pan, hence the name."

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Huh." It sounds odd, but most of the things he had in France would sound odd if just described and not eaten. "Well, thank you for the breakfast, then!"

[undead_radish_seller]

"Oh, Wei-gongzi, that was just a taste," Wen Ning says. "You can come in and have more. Or I could bring you more if you don't want to meet the doctor, the magistrate and the swordsman. They can be a bit much."

Usually, Wei-gongzi deals with people very well, but perhaps he doesn't feel like it, this morning.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"That new cultivator friend of yours has a very impressive sword. Lan Zhan would be very upset with me if I managed to undo all of his hard work already, and I don't know that fellow's sect." Wei Ying explains, wryly. Of course, it doesn't matter much - most of the sects are turned against him now, even if they weren't even formed when he was last alive. That seems like cheating somehow, but still. It isn't exactly going to change just because he doesn't like it.

[undead_radish_seller]

"He's not a cultivator, just a martial artist," Wen Ning says. "He reached immortality by accident because of some self-centred idiot and an old mouldy manuscript, he says. And his world isn't ours; it's got all different sects. Imagine that: - no Jins!"

let's roll all 4, why not

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko had been on her way to get breakfast when Milliways surprised her--and what the hell, there was a kitchen here too. She rolled peaceably enough through the bar until the noise through the kitchen doors brought her to a restless stop, legs shifting to keep her balance on the orbital rollerskates still velcro-ed to her shoes.

"Well, there went the idea of an easy breakfast," she murmured, running her fingers through her hair and absently fluffing it. "One of you guys, throw me a teacup?"

Re: let's roll all 4, why not

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi fills a cup with tea and throws it at her with a little spin; it smoothly sails towards her without spilling a drop.

Now it's just up to her to catch it.

Re: let's roll all 4, why not

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko was not precisely expecting the cup to come from that corner of the room, but she catches the cup surprisingly delicately, letting the momentum send her into a contained spin on the orbital skates. "Bit literal, but I'll take it," she says, rocking on the wheels.

"What'd you put in it?" Her disposition (and the very obvious lack of surprise at there being tea in the cup) means she's really asking what kind of tea it is.

Re: let's roll all 4, why not

[old_monster]

"I thought you could," Ye Baiyi says. "Lady on wheels, you give the impression of having passable martial arts. It's Yunnan Moonlight black and white tea; quite exquisite in its flowery aroma and golden colour. Perhaps a bit too flashy for some who prefer infinite subtle variations of green tea, but I quite like it."

Re: let's roll all 4, why not

[electro_kinetic]

"It's Noriko," she corrects to the 'lady on wheels' part, as she steps out of the skates; honestly, the fact that she's so comfortable on them is impressive enough, considering she's not strapped to the platforms in any way, and merely steps out of them now that she intends to stand still for a moment.

"And I'm decent at catching things aimed in the general vicinity of my head." She shrugs. "Different styles have their place in the world of beverages as well as everything else. So who're you?"

[old_monster]

"I'm Ye Baiyi," he says, "also known as the Mount Changming Sword Immortal, and this is the sword in question, Longbei."

He points his thumb at the large sword he is carrying on his back, the hilt sticking out high over his right shoulder.

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko listens, and lifts a brow at that. "Yeah, we'll go with that first one, I am definitely not calling you the rest of that mouthful," she says. "I assume you're not gonna go swinging that around in close-quarters."

[old_monster]

"No," Ye Baiyi says. "Don't worry. I only swing Longbei around when there is enough room. It's big, as you can see."