Claudia. (![]() ![]() @ 2013-03-03 11:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log, allegra hawke, claudia corbett |
WHO: Claudia and Allegra
WHAT: Making Coffee
WHEN: Saturday Afternoon
WHERE: Somewhere where there are coffee machines? the kitchen? idk
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Complete
Despite paying close attention to Allegra’s instructions on how to make coffee, a good student even when she thought the lesson was pointless, Claudia was still struggling with working the coffee machine. Spectrographs, centrifuges, any number of other scientific machines she had no problem using but a stupid coffee machine didn’t make sense to her. It wasn’t even like it was that complicated, she had the steps down in her head. Put the coffee in the silver thing with the handle, screw that onto the machine, press a button (after making sure there was a cup underneath, that had been on of her first mistakes, coffee flowing everywhere. She hoped this coffee making lesson didn’t include cleaning up) and while that was happening heat and froth the milk. Without burning it. “This is useless, there’s no point learning when out in the real world there are trained baristas to do it for you,” Claudia complained to Allegra as she poured another jug of burnt milk down the sink. She’d adjusted to the lack of coffee at IVI, drinking it being more of a habit and a way to socialise than a necessity, she could live with coffee only one day a week at the IVI cafe, she didn’t need to learn how to do this. "Try again," Allegra instructed, lazily sitting on the kitchen bench and watching her swinging legs as Claudia made yet another mistake. There'd been so many that she'd tired of watching her friend more closely -- probably resulting in more mistakes than necessary. There was a reason Claudia tutored and Allegra refused. "And anyway, maybe one day you'll be working at a clinic and desperately need coffee and there's a machine and no one there to make it for you and you'll be able to make it yourself. Independence!" “Or I could just make tea or deal with instant coffee if I’m that desperate,” Claudia countered as she started again, slowly working her way through all the steps, being as careful as she could to get it right so she could finally end these useless lessons and go back to doing something she actually enjoyed. A few minutes later she actually had milk and coffee in a cup, though she wasn’t sure what type of coffee it was, not really following the instructions that made a cappuccino differ from a flat white differ from a latte, etcetera. “You can test it and tell me if it’s okay,” she told Allegra as she sprinkled the chocolate powder over the top, a little more coming out than she’d intended. She had a new appreciation for people who could make pictures on coffee even if personally she thought it was mostly a waste of time, with them being destroyed by the drinker almost immediately. Still, it was always nice to get a love heart or smiley face on your drink even if it didn’t last long. Allegra took the cup somewhat apprehensively -- sure, she might have been improving on her culinary and beverage-making abilities what with the cooking class and the coffee-marking classes she'd picked up for her independent studies over the summer term, but even after the last few weeks wouldn't consider herself an expert. Claudia had only taken an afternoon's worth of instructions and practice, and neither of them were very good in the kitchen, period. She sniffed at the beverage, frowning suspiciously. It had all the makings of the aroma of coffee. It looked like a cappuccino, minus the generous serving of chocolate powder. It -- and here she raised the cup to lips -- tasted like... "Burnt, she declared, wrinkling her nose as she attempted to push it back into Claudia's hands. Claudia sighed and took the cup back, pouring the liquid down the sink again. She was smart and good at experiments, she didn’t understand how she could struggle so much with this. She would try titrate to exact accuracy than make another cup of coffee and she was totally out of practice with titration so it wasn’t like that would be easy either. Starting again for what felt like the millionth time Claudia decided to pay extra attention to the milk. This time she’d rather it be almost cold than burn it again. The barely foamed milk was poured into the new cup and the chocolate dusting done with much more care this time, though still messier than would be accepted in most cafes. “How are you even studying this?” Claudia asked as she handed the new cup over to Allegra, “This isn’t at all fun.” "It's interesting," Allegra replied, accepting the next cup of what looked like coffee. "And challenging. And I'm learning new skills." Although this would be the last week of said learning, as she was swapping milk frothing for yet more communication theory to coordinate her independent studies with Australian university semesters. “Skills you don’t really need,” Claudia pointed out as she waited for Allegra to taste her coffee. “It’s a waste of time when you could be learning skills that you do need and could actually help you in the future and are more important than the ability to heat up milk without burning it!” "How do you know I don't need it?" Allegra protested, procrastinating on tasting for as long as she could to avoid yet another assault on her senses. "I want to travel, maybe I'll get stuck and need cash and can get a casual job as a barista?" “Or you could ask your dad for more money,” Claudia suggested, even though she knew they weren’t on the best terms right now. Allegra’s family had money and Claudia hadn’t noticed Allegra having any issues with spending it in the past so she didn’t see why that would change just because she was overseas. “Or you could get a career before you travel, save up money through that and not need to make coffee for people to fund your trips.” Allegra still hadn't called Mark since their falling out before the Christmas break, so the mention of him pricked her a little, leaving her more tense than it ought to have, considering he was meant to be her dad. Or perhaps, because he was meant to be her dad. "Never know when you need a plan b," she said with a shrug. "I mean, he could cut me off." Because she was a Vol. Or because they butted heads one too many times. Or because she'd stopped talking to him again. Or because-- "Whatever. It's just something I like doing. Anyway, you should try this one." “It’s probably cold now,” Claudia complained, Allegra taking far too long to drink it. “Plus I’m just going to say it’s good so I don’t have to make anymore.” After one afternoon of attempting to make coffee she didn’t understand how this was something anyone could like doing. "Drink!" Allegra insisted. After all the burnt, cold, too hot, too gross, gritty, etc coffee that she'd sipped, she felt that Claudia had to try at least one. “Fine,” Claudia agreed, reluctantly taking the cup back off Allegra and slowly bringing it to her lips, taking as small a sip as she could manage. She was right, it was starting to get a bit cold but the milk lacked the distinct burnt taste that she had been expecting. It wasn’t good coffee but if she got it at a cafe it wasn’t so bad that she’d ask them to make her a new one. It was drinkable. “I made drinkable coffee!” she exclaimed after taking another, bigger, sip to make sure it really was okay. She grinned broadly at Allegra, holding the cup back out to her to confirm that it wasn’t bad. Allegra ventured a taste, though largely apprehensive about the matter. Though, Claudia's coffee tasting buds were pretty good in general. "Oh, wow. It is drinkable!" Drinkable wasn’t usually a compliment but Claudia couldn’t be more pleased to hear Allegra agree with that description of her coffee. It was more than could be said about a lot of her attempts in the kitchen. She still thought it was a useless skill and a complete waste of time, especially as an independent study but she had still managed to make coffee! “I don’t know why you need weeks worth of classes if I can pick it up in an afternoon,” Claudia teased, ignoring the fact that her coffee still wasn’t that good, nor could she make different types of coffees and if she was being totally honest this cup working was probably a bit of a fluke, even if she had worked hard to make it. It didn’t matter, she’d succeeded in making coffee! At this, Allegra rolled her eyes. "You know I can do love hearts and leaves now, right?" “Well that makes it worthwhile,” Claudia replied sarcastically, taking her cup back off Allegra and having another sip of her coffee, enjoying being able to drink it even if she was usually okay with only having it once a week. “Love hearts and leaves are totally going to help you in life.” "Oh, just shut up," Allegra returned and hopped off the bench, tired of this argument. She could understand exactly why Anthony got irritated at Claudia, though she knew not talking to her wasn't exactly the way to deal with it. And not to mention, she'd been her friend for much longer and could put up with it better. "I like love hearts and leaves on my coffee. Deal with it." “You’re the one who told me I had to say what I really meant all week,” Claudia pointed out, that being one of her least favourite of Allegra’s rules. It wasn’t that she was usually lying to people but she didn’t always say what she actually though, preferring to be nice and not cause arguments, unless the topic was studying. “And what I really think is that knowing how to make love hearts and leaves isn’t really something to be proud of.” "Funny how you felt proud, though." Claudia pursed her lips, unsure how to respond to that. It was true that she’d felt proud to make a decent cup of coffee but that didn’t mean she thought it was a worthwhile skill. “I like being able to do things if I try them,” she answered eventually, “But that doesn’t mean I think it’s something worth spending time on usually.” "Well," Allegra started with a sigh. "Guess you completed the goal. So whatever." “Great,” Claudia said, dumping her cup into the sink. “Now I have to go finish that philosophy book that you’re making me read so I can complete another one of your ridiculous goals.” If Claudia wasn’t so goal and rule orientated she wouldn’t have bothered with most of Allegra’s list. |