A Prayer and a Dinner

[swordofzero]

Who: Suzaku and Edge (Then Saber if he wants to join them for dinner!)
What: Suzaku and Edge go to check up on their (hopefully) former gambler and then Suzaku makes dinner, a late Christmas gift to Edge.
Where: Tokyo and then Saber's temple.
When: January 21st
Warnings: Gambling maybe? Other things I will add as appropriate.



A Prayer for Sustaining Suzaku and Edge

It had been quite a while since Edge and Suzaku had intervened to stop a gambler from betting away all his money. A month and a half and an awful lot had happened in that time. Suzaku had been without a god then and since he had been named and lost a second god before being named by Saber. Christmas and the New Year had passed, the Far shore had been hit with an earth quake and a volcano. But he had wondered a couple of times how the gambler was doing. If their 'miracle' had left a lasting impression. Suzaku knew that such habits were not easy ones to break.

Living in the same temple meant that things were quite easy to plan and so Suzaku and Edge had decided to go and check up on the man. To check everything was alright, that he had not fallen back into gambling over the holiday period. There was a shrine of Micheal not far from where the man lived.

"Are you ready?" Technically they didn't have to be in the same place to teleport down to the shrine, they would end up together anyways, but they might as well time it so neither of them had to wait too long.

A meal for friends. Edge and Saber

Suzaku also hadn't forgotten that he had promised to make Edge dinner as a Christmas present. He had slept, lost a god, gained a new one and slept again. Now they both served the same god and it was less inviting Edge over for a meal and more announcing that he was going to cook.

He had been practising, it seemed that cooking was not something he had had any skill in in life. Because he really didn't have the first clue how to do anything. He had thrown himself into learning though with, it seemed you really could find instructions for anything on the internet.

He had opted for a mix of Japanese and Britannian food. Miso soup, steamed rice, roast beef and vegetables.
The roast beef wasn't too complicated, he just had to make sure not to overcook it. Rice shouldn't be too difficult, neither should vegetables. Miso soup was more complicated but he had a recipe and was following it.

What he hadn't banked on was trying to do it all together. At the same time. Suzaku outwardly seems calm but he's currently hurrying between adding the final ingredients to the soup, turning down the bubbling over vegetables and checking the rice. His eyes flick back to the recipe, reading the next line. Once you add miso NEVER BOIL Miso soup.

"Oh." He hurries to turn down the hob. Why had he thought he could do all of this? He should have chosen something simpler.

Comments

[fauxcalibur]

"Is that how you learned?" Suddenly the situation is much more interesting. "I hadn't even thought of trying."

Honestly, he was so used to other people cooking for him that it took a little mental adjustment to realize that it was something he would be expected to do for himself if he really wanted to eat something.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded, "My first god told me that if we wanted the temple to stay... not on fire she shouldn't cook. So I decided to learn." He didn't mind really easy to prepare meals or those that required no preparation at all. But he saw it as a way he could be helpful. Luckily his early attempts had not resulted in kitchen fires of his own.

He picked up the noodles and moved over to drain them.

[fauxcalibur]

"It may well be the same here! Though it's more accurate to say that if you want meals at all, you're better off cooking them yourself because I likely won't remember."

Though now that the idea was in his head, he was coming up with things he'd like to learn and try out. The problem was that he couldn't guarantee anything he made would be edible at all. Or if it was, he couldn't guarantee that anyone would actually want to eat it.

[swordofzero]

"That's fine, sir. I am happy to cook for everyone." He set out three plates and began dishing out noodles. He had made plenty of food. With two shinki in the temple it was a necessity.

"That is if you want me to after tasting this." There was a chance it would be awful after all.

[fauxcalibur]

"That's more of Edge's concern than mine! If it's not to my liking, I simply won't eat at all."

Saber didn't seem to worried about it, no matter how much of a bad idea it might be. He really didn't need to eat to sustain himself, but it was still part of a regular routine. Which was something he tended to lack without outside intervention.

[swordofzero]

Though he knew that gods didn't have to eat he really hoped that his cooking wasn't so bad that Saber abstained from eating altogether. He slipped on oven gloves and lifted the beef from the oven, scrutinising it. It was perhaps a little overcooked but hopefully not burned completely.

He found a knife and studied the beef some more unsure how to cut it correctly or if there was even a wrong way to do so. "I guess I just cut it into slices..."

[fauxcalibur]

"That should do! How were you planning on serving it?"

He was really just happy that it was there. There was a severe lack of meat in all the dishes they served at gatherings in the heavens and no one ever seemed to understand why he was so disappointed by it.

[swordofzero]

With the noodles and vegetables. I'm not sure if I should mix it all up or serve it separately.

[Separate was perhaps better. That way people could combine it if they wished.]

[fauxcalibur]

Hmmmmm....

[To be honest, he wasn't sure what would be better, either. Time to start watching cooking shows.]

If you mixed them together, would that enhance the flavor of the dish?

[swordofzero]

Perhaps, noodles can be a little plain on their own and I haven't made any kind of sauce...

[Mixing it is. He begins slicing the meat thinly, it would be easier to mix into the noddles and vegetables that way.]

[fauxcalibur]

Oh! A sauce would be good!

[This isn't exactly helping. Even though he does seem to be trying to help.

Saber opens the refrigerator (something that really doesn't seem to fit in, considering what the exterior of the temple looks like), and starts poking around.]

[swordofzero]

[A sauce would be good if Suzaku had thought of a sauce before everything had finished cooking. He continues slicing but he does glance backwards to see what his god is doing.

The fridge is a bit out of place but it is definitely useful. He watches out of the corner of his eye to see if Saber finds whatever it is he is looking for.

He figures slicing half this meat will be enough... Perhaps. But he can always slice more if it's actually edible and Saber and Edge want more.]

[fauxcalibur]

[Saber starts taking things out of the refrigerator and setting them on the counter. Basically, if it's a liquid, it gets added to the collection. This includes several different bottles and cans of beer, some sodas, milk, vinegar, orange juice, sugary drinks clearly meant for children, and a half-empty energy drink.]

Hmmmmm...

[Nothing good can come of this.]

[swordofzero]

Do you have a plan, my lord? [Suzaku's voice is cautiously curious. Hopefully he has a plan? Or perhaps not. Because it does not seem like anything good will come from this plan? Suzaku may know very little about cooking but he knows enough to be certain that any mixture of what Saber has pulled out the fridge will not be good on meat.

Or at all.]

[fauxcalibur]

Absolutely not! I've never made a sauce in my life!

[Well, there you go.]

But all of these are liquids, so certainly some sort of combination sufficiently boiled should make a sauce, right?

[No, Saber.]

[swordofzero]

I see. [Neither has Suzaku. But learning a new skill is what this is about.

However that kind of experimentation...]

That is one idea, my lord. Perhaps we could use the internet to see if there are any sauce recipes that use the ingredients we have here.

[fauxcalibur]

Oh! The internet! It's never the first thing I think of, obviously.

[He's becoming more and more proficient at using it, but so much of it is still a mystery to him.]

There's nothing I can't learn from watching a few videos, after all, but the problem is finding them...

[Getting YouTube to give you what you're actually searching for can be difficult even for people who weren't born in the 12th century.]

[swordofzero]

Videos can be hard to find, but there are written recipes as well.

[Truthfully Suzaku found the internet strange to use as well. He had figured it out quickly but it hadn't come naturally to him like many things here had.] Perhaps if we search for sauces that can be served with beef.

[fauxcalibur]

Hmmm...

[Thinking is at least occurring. This is possibly a step in the right direction.]

If you know how to follow the directions... Without a video, I don't really understand well what they mean.

[Guess who still hasn't figured out what his power as a god is.]

[swordofzero]

I can follow instructions. [It is something Suzaku is good at. Instructions, clear orders. He can follow them well.

He types the search into his phone and looks at the results, frowning as he tries to find one that uses any of the things they have.] Do we have any red wine, sir? The sauces using that seem simple enough.

[fauxcalibur]

Of course I do!

[He boggles a bit, like he can't believe he was just asked that question. Of course he has red wine! He's not some sort of barbarian.

He disappears momentarily in a shimmer of golden light, then reappears in the doorway. He somehow manages to carry four different bottles of red wine over to the counter and sets them down proudly.]

There's more, but I didn't want to drop anything.

[swordofzero]

[Suzaku blinked, had the question been that strange? But his god had already disappeared, then reappeared once again. Four different bottles in his arms.] I think we only need one bottle, probably not even a whole one.

[He glanced at the recipe again.] I don't know different wines though. [He knows there are different wines, which is a good first step.]

[fauxcalibur]

I'm not an expert, either, but I did rule the regions all these wines come from!

[He beams with pride, which is a good indication that these are French wines.]

I'm sure they're all quite good, but I don't know what it takes to make a good cooking wine. Maybe one of the Cabernets...?

[He turns the bottles around to look at the labels.]

If it doesn't work, we can always drink the rest of it...

[swordofzero]

I see... [He really doesn't know much history but he is guessing these are all wines from the European Universe. Probably France.

He looks back at his phone, tying in another search.] It says here any dry red wine and mentions Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. [His pronunciation is not awful even if it takes him a moment to read the words.]

I'm not sure I'm old enough to drink. [He's also not sure it matters, considering he's dead and the Far Shore probably has no rules about alcohol consumption.]

[fauxcalibur]

This is a Cabernet Sauvignon!

[Saber holds up one of the bottles, still beaming.]

And what do you mean "not old enough?" Certainly you're capable. I see no reason why you shouldn't.