light a roman candle with me. Who: Morgayne & Divina What: Something different. Where: Tiamat kitchens. When: Last Friday. Rating: G. Status: Complete.
An unexpectedly elusive ingredient had Divina arriving at the Tiamat kitchens fifteen minutes past the appointed hour. Arms laden with shopping bags and hair tousled by travel, she strode towards the nearest counter and set her purchases down.
Her squire arrived moments later, cheeks pink from having run the distance from the Aerodome crystal.
Luckily, Morgayne thought as the glanced around the kitchen, she didn’t seem to be too late. There was no lunch spread today, like the last time she and Divina had been there—although the same number of ingredients still flooded the countertops.
She raised her eyebrows. “Are we cooking?”
“Baking.” Divina pulled a small sugar pumpkin out of a bag. Setting the pumpkin atop a chopping board, she gestured for Morgayne to hand her a knife. “I was in the mood for pie.”
“Oh.” For a moment, Morgayne’s mouth fell agape. Pumpkin pie. But the moment passed. She drew herself back together, and passed Divina the knife, wordlessly. Her face was composed into a mask of careful blankness.
Divina took the knife and placed its edge against the pumpkin’s stem. “Watch closely,” she said, slicing out the stem. She scraped out the insides and deposited the seeds on the corner of the board before tossing the rest into the bin. With a clean slice, she halved the pumpkin laterally.
After a step back to survey her work, she took another pumpkin from the shopping bags. This, too, was placed on the chopping board. The knife was offered to Morgayne by the handle.
She took it without hesitation, repeating Divina’s motions to the best of her ability. Her own pumpkin turned out somewhat messier than her mentor’s example, but it was a start. Once she’d sliced the pumpkin in half, Morgayne looked up, knife still hovering in her right hand. Awaiting further instruction.
An amused raise of the eyebrows was afforded the squire’s work before Divina reached for an overhead cupboard. “Cut those into sections,” she said, pulling out a saucepan, “to fit into one of these. We will need to soften the pulp by steaming it. Only then will it be suitable for use.”
She then moved to the faucet, filling the saucepan with a few inches of water. “Have you had it a la mode?”
A la what? “I don’t think so,” Morgayne replied, honestly, as she sliced the pumpkin. “My—” brother “—friend used to make it for us, but he just did it the normal way, I think. He didn’t even cut up a pumpkin, he just used the canned stuff.” She smiled softly at the memory. “It was still good, though.”
Setting the saucepan on the stove, Divina returned the squire’s smile with a playful smirk.