towerofanimus | Time for a cooking lesson!~

[Tohko sighed as she opened the can and tried to get her thoughts in order.]

Oh, it's alright..the topic itself isn't unpleasant, and it's best you know exactly what these people are capable of.

[Tohko looked at the recipe book for a moment before nodding to herself and turning the burner the pot was on to the correct temperature.]

If you've never made a stew before, it's best to turn the burner on to the temperature it lists and make sure that you're turning on the right burner that the post is on. If you don't, you could cause a fire, so be careful.

[Tohko then poured the broth into the pot as the continued to speak.]

As for why Ruana is worse..when I first came to the Tower, it was during one of her months, and everyone, including me, was involved in an event where you were thrust into costumes, and if you weren't able to collect enough of the candy that was scattered around, your costume would crush you, and you would come back as a warped version of the costume.

[Another sigh as Tohko finished pouring and threw the can away.]

Your warped version would twist your personality, your mind, and your body. Mine cut into me so that I constantly bled, and I killed three people before I snapped out of it and realized what was going on.

And my friend Enoch..they stripped his free will from him and forced him to kill whoever he thought was a sinner...and broke him in the process. He was devastated after that event, and I'm not sure if he ever fully recovered.

[Diarmuid closes his eyes and draws in a breath as she speaks. Part of him had hoped that this month had been a bad one. That people's minds weren't so often the focus of these experiments.

How foolish he was.]

I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that was. To be forced to kill others against your will...

[He shakes his head.]

And I thought that what I went through was bad. Telling lies, no matter how cruel, isn't anywhere near the same as taking a life. I'm sorry. All of my complaining must have sounded so stupid to you...

[Tohko sighed again, but she shook her head as she opened p the can of green beans and poured them into the pot.]

It was pretty terrible..so you can now see why I think Ruana is much worse than Jason. But you don't have anything to apologize about. You didn't sound foolish to me. After all, even if our scars and problems aren't the same, I can still understand that you had a lot going on at that time..especially considering that you thought you were in the Tower for thousands of years.

Just being alive that long would be enough to break anyone..

Yes, that is part of the reason I was acting as I was, I'm sure. It is still no excuse.

[Diarmuid pauses and shakes his head, He's not suppose to be thinking about that stuff right now. Instead, he changes the subject back to cooking by squinting at the oven control panel.]

How do I know which of these control which burner? They seem to be laid out by position, but what is the front and what is the back?

It probably was..but there's still no reason to be sorry. I understand. Really, it's alright.

[Tohko then smiled and pointed to the different nobs above the burners. There were four of them, two to the right and two to the left, stacked on top of each other, and each one controlled a different burner. There was a panel in the middle to control the oven, but Tohko wasn't going to cover that right now.]

Alright then! You see the dark spots underneath each burner? That shows which burner it controlled. These knobs are set up so that the left burners knobs are to the left and the right burners nobs are on the right. The numbers around each burner indicate how high you want the temperature to go.

[Tohko then put two spoonfuls of garlic into the broth and stirred the mixture before putting the jar back.]

[Diarmuid nods as he watches her explain the controls. Once she has finished, he reaches out for one of the nobs giving it a twist and smiles when it turns on the burner he thought it would. He then quickly turns it back off.]

Well, that is easy enough as long as I remember to pay attention to the labels. What is this?

[He motions to the center console that she has skipped over.]

Controls for something else I take it?

[Tohko smiled as Diarmuid used the burners correctly before addressing his question towards the center controls.]

Ah, that controls the oven. The arrows help you control the temperature, and the two lights below it let you know when it's pre-heating and when it's actually ready to bake.

[Diarmuid nods and draws his hand back away from the panel. He had been half tempted to just start messing with the buttons to see if he could figure out what they did. After all, the burners had been easy enough.]

Something we aren't going to use today? I won't mess with it then. How is the soup coming? It's certainly beginning to smell good. Shall one of us taste it?

[Oh, the soup, the soup! Tohko quickly opened up the jar of garlic, put in two spoonfuls, and stirred it in before starting to chop up the tomato.]

Well, we could use the oven later, if you want to make something with it. And the soup's coming along! I just need to add in the rest of the ingredients, have it cook for about thirty minutes, and then it should be done!

[Tohko added in the tomato and gave the mixture another stir before putting the beef into the microwave to heat it up.]

If you want to taste it, you had better hurry! Once this beef goes in, you really can't taste it until it's ready.

[Diarmuid starts to point out she has already put garlic in, but she has it done before he can say anything. Instead, he finds a spoon to taste it with. Maybe mixed with the rest of the things, it won't be that bad?

He tastes it and then winces.

That bad.]

Uh Tohko, I think you doubled up on the garlic. It seems really strong anyway. Is there a way to fix that? Will putting in the meat help?

[There is a bit of sadness in his eyes. She'd messed up because he had been asking questions...]

[Tohko sighed when she saw Diarmuid wince and comment on the garlic. Where had her head been these past few days? She kept screwing up with small things. Maybe it was the stress from having to constantly calm everyone down and restore hope to those who had none.

Maybe. But it still didn't excuse the mistake. As the microwave went off, Tohko pulled out the beef and put it on the counter.]

Gah..I do that sometimes with soups. Don't worry. There's a way to fix it..it's not easy though. If you run into this problem, add at least two spoonfuls of sugar, stir it, and then taste it again to see if it'll help. Can you do that while I open up this beef?

[It shouldn't take her long to take care of the beef, but one way to get the student involved was to have him participate in the lesson like this.]

That sounds simple enough.

[Lancer does as she tells him. First adding just the two spoonfuls, then adding just a little more when it seems like that isn't quite enough.]

Done. I think that is much closer to what it should be. So, the sweet balances out the garlic's bite. Does it do that for other spices as well?

Also, do you want to taste this now to make sure I haven't added too much?

[As Tohko opened up the beef, she smiled and nodded.]

Good! I'm glad to hear that. And sugar can help with other spices and liquids, like vinegar. Not putting in too much liquid would have helped cut back the garlic as well.

[She then washed her hands to get the meat juices off them before pulling out another spoon.]

Oh, sure! I don't think you added in too much though.

[Tohko tasted the soup, and it tasted like sand, as normal foods usually did. However, she was used to this, so she was able to keep smiling as she chewed and swallowed before putting the spoon in the sink.]

You don't have to worry. You haven't put in too much sugar. And now..

[Tohko then added the beef to the mixture before giving it another good stir and washing her hands again.]

Let's see..all we need to throw in now is the potato and the onion.

[Tohko decided to start with the onion and began peeling back all the inedible layers and cutting off a bit of the root before throwing the mess into the trash and chopping up the vegetable.]

Good, sugar is not something I'm familiar with. Most of this stuff isn't stuff I'm familiar with when you get down to it.

[Diarmuid laughs at his own inexperience and then settles against the stove to watch her as she moves expertly around the kitchen. His wife had never mastered cooking so he'd never really had the chance to just watch what it entailed. Yes, this was much different than what he was used to from his time, but there was still an art to it.]

Is there anything I can do to help? Or would me trying to help you out just interrupt and cause you to lose your place again? I don't want to make this any harder than necessary, but I feel kind of useless just standing here.

[Not only useless, but potentially trouble because he doesn't realize that leaning against the stove has caused him to bump up the dial on the burner for the soup.]

[Tohko chuckled at that as she chopped up the onion. It didn't take her too long, as she wasn't going to put the whole head in Just half of it should do, and the other half could be sealed up for someone else wanting onion later.]

Well, don't worry. You'll get the hang of this soon enough! It's not that hard.

[As she finished chopping up the half she needed, she searched around the cupboards until she found a small zip-lock bag and then put the onion in that, sealed it up, and put it into the fridge before turning back to the cut up onion and Diarmuid.]

Oh, don't worry! That wasn't your fault. I do that sometimes with soups..my mind will just wander, and I'll lose track the garlic or the pepper. It's no big deal..but you could cut up that potato for me, if you want.

I can try. How does it need to be cut?

[Diarmuid moves away from the stove never realizing that he's bumped the knob or that the soup probably shouldn't be boiling quite so hard.]

I mean size-wise, of course. The pieces are usually small, yes? Squares? Is that okay?

[Tohko noticed the amount of steam that was coming out of that pot and quickly answered Diarmuid's questions.]

Small squares should be fine! About half the size of a marshmallow, or, if you don't know what those are, half the size of this circle.

[Tohko quickly made a circle with her fingers that was about the size of a marshmallow before rushing to that burner and reducing the heat. She sighed and stirred the soup. It was hard to burn soup, but it could still happen. She then added in the onion.]

Diarmuid, you have to be careful when you're leaning up against the stove. You accidentally raised the temperature.

[He nods, grateful to her for actually showing him the size she wants as opposed to expecting him to know what a marshmallow is because, in all honesty, he doesn't.

Diarmuid pauses and looks up with horror on his face when she points out what he did, though.]

I-I did? I didn't even realize it. I didn't know the nobs were so easily moved. I'm so sorry. Is it all right? I didn't ruin it, did I?

[Tohko smiled as she looked at Diarmuid again.]

Oh, don't worry! It should be fine. Soup's pretty hardy, so it can take a bit of a beating. At least now you know, so it won't happen again. And now, all we need is to toss in the potato and let it cook for thirty minutes!

Ah, yes, just a moment.

[Diarmuid turns back to where he's cutting the potato. At least this is something he can do without messing up and it's a good way to hide the embarrassment he's feeling about his mistake. By the time he's done, most of the red had left his face.

He gathers up the potato pieces and carries them over to the pot.]

Do I just drop them in?

[At that, Tohko nodded.]

Yup! Just dump them in, and then I'll stir it, put a lid on it, and set the timer.

[Diarmuid nods and then carefully lets the potato chunks drop into the soup. Once he's done, he steps back to watch Tohko take care of the rest.]

What will we do while it's cooking? I'm going to guess we probably need to watch it and stir it occasionally so we really can't go too far away. Do you want to show me what some of the rest of this stuff is?

[He motions out toward the counter and some of the things on it like the microwave and the blender.]

[Tohko quickly stirred the mixture after Diarmuid put the potato in before putting a lid on the pot and setting a nearby timer to thirty minutes.]

You're assumption is correct. It's best to stir it every seven minutes or so to make sure that it doesn't stick and to just check on it. However, I can tell you about these other things while we wait!

[Tohko tapped on the microwave first. It was safer, and therefore, would go first.]

This is a microwave. You use it to heat things up for a small amount of time. It's good for heating up cold food or defrosting beef-like you just saw me do.

So for quick things and reheating.

[He rubs his chin with his hand as he looks at it.]

So anything can go in there as long as it just needs to be warmed up a little? That seems pretty straightforward.

[Maybe a little too straightforward...]

Well, not everything. Unless it specifically says 'Microwave-safe' on the plate or plastic container, you shouldn't put it in, or you'll melt down whatever it is you're heating up and cause a fire. Gooey things that can expand and large fruits probably shouldn't be placed there either.

[Tohko could see where that might have gone.]

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The microwave is safer? Tohko what are you thinking? LOL! That's what he will prob. blow up 1st!

Probably..xD; Tohko's trying to avoid cut fingers by going for the microwave first..