RP log
Who: Watari and Euram
When: The other day
Where: Cafe
Watari tightened the neat bow of his frilly, pink-white-red 'Kiss the Cook' apron and wiped the sweat from his brow with a rag as he slaved over a hot stove and an oven. He loved baking cakes (the guilty pleasure of being a man with a sweet tooth), but sometimes he had to wonder if it was just to much work with such sticky summer heat moving in. Oh well. He just had to finish melting this last pit of chocolate for the icing layer and his newest creation would be complete! Luckily, the cafe was slow today - not a soul around at the moment.
Euram pushed open the door to the café, bringing in a burst of color the shop didn't really need. He was having such a hard time readjusting to live at Budehuc. He'd thought about things a lot while he'd been gone, and thought he could do things differently; but that had been proven wrong very quickly. He was troubled by that thought, and decided the best way to deal with it was to find something to distract himself; such as food. He moved to sit not paying any head to who was around, and waved his hand trying to get anyone who would bring him food's attention
Watari heard the slap of the door, which meant someone was in the cafe. Of course, Sheena was off somewhere not doing his job, and Mamie was on break. So that left Watari. He sighed and set aside the chocolate and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, heading out to the waiting customer.
"May I help you?" he asked as politley and genially as possible for him.
"Of course! I will…erk!" Euram stopped mid-sentence when he saw who had come up to the table. It was the pink haired man from earlier. He didn't know how to feel around him. He was kind of ashamed of how he'd acted before, but he couldn't bring himself to do something undignified like apologize for it. "What are you doing here?!" He finally blurted out, wild around the eyes.
Watari cocked a brow and looked at Euram, than down at the pad and pen in his hand the apron he was wearing. "I work here. I thought everyone around the castle knew that by now."
"Oh…of course," Euram said as if he actually knew that. "That would more properly explain how your hair came to be pink…" In a rare event he didn't know what to say. He hated feeling like this, he didn't understand it or what he should do to get through it.
Watari eyed the young man, aware of how awkward he seemed to feel. He put the pad and paper away. "I'm almost done making a cake," Watari offered him. "I could get you slice, along with some Oolong tea."
Watari nodded and went back to the kitchen. He took an extra moment to brew the tea and put the finishing touches on the cake before reappearing. He set the cup of tea before Euram, than the cake. It was a square block, a fairly good portion. The cake had sort of light, light mocha color to it, two layers seperated by a spread of chocolate and vanilla swirl, with a striped iced topping - the light mocha, and darker chocolate. An alteration of chocolate, mocha, and cherries with no stems ran its length on top. He set the fork down and inclined his head.
"Enjoy sir."
Euram sighed and slumped against the table when Watari left him alone for a moment. His elbows were up on the table as he rested his forehead on his hands. He stayed this way until he heard Watari speak again, and jumped slightly startled. "Ah," he said noticing the cake, oh it actually looked good; one thing going his way today. "Most excellent! My compliments to the chef!" He had already forgotten that Watari said he had made it in his desire to have something to say.
Watari said nothing and took out a rag, moving to the next table over to begin wiping it down (though it didn't really need it).
Euram ate a piece of the cake suddenly not very hungry. The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. Most of him wanted to just leave until things made sense again, but he'd decided he wouldn't do that anymore. He sighed loudly again and prodded at the cake with his fork.
Watari looked over at him. "Is the cake not to your liking?" he asked.
"What? No no, quite good," he said said over earnestly. "Though, my my, quite on the rich side, ha ha…haa…" He trailed off again staring down at the plate twirling the fork in his hand. "I must say I am quite surprised by your civility considering our…previous encounter."
"You were acting like a foolish child then, so I treated you as one," Watari shrugged. "You aren't now, so I won't."
Euram abruptly turned his head to stare angrily at Watari. "You are not skilled in the ways of tact I see! Such things should never be stated so…so…Such insults should not be stated!"
Watari returned Euram's gaze calmly, wiping his hands on his apron. "Who said it was an insult? It was a statement of fact. You know as well as I do that you were throwing a temper tantrum simply because I would not give you the self-satisfying pity you desired and pointed out that you were the cause of our own misfortune. I don't make a habit out of encouraging such foolish behavior."
Euram's glare became less forceful with each of Watari's words. His shoulders contracted in on themselves as he instinctively made himself small with each jab he knew to be true. "Stop it!" he cried out suddenly almost cutting off Watari's last word. "Who are you to say such things to me? You will cease! Stop!" He might be coming to the realization that it was true, but he did not need someone he barely knew telling him!
Watari went silent, watching Euram contract. He reached out, putting a hand on Euram's head and tilting it back gently so Euram was looking up at him. "Stop flinching," Watari said gently.
"I'm not flinching," Euram whined, sounding more like a petulant child than when he threw tantrums.
"That's not what I meant," Watari said, releasing him. "I meant that whenever someone criticises you, stop just blocking them out right away. I can see you know you need to make yourself better, but you can't do that on your own either."
Euram looked away as soon as he was released. "You don't know me or anything of the situation…I don't see how you can try to give advice."
Watari paused for what seemed a long time, than slowly took a seat across from Euram. "I'm trying to change too," he admitted.
Euram straightened in his seat instinctively when another person sat down. "How do you mean?" he asked uncertainly.
"Are you aware of what my past profession was?" he asked Euram. Watari was sure that his attire gave it away, but some people...well, you know.
"How would I know that?" Euram asked loudly. "There has not been reason for you to come up in my discussions as of late as we have never talked beyond these two encounters."
Watari rolled his eye, but ignored the sass. "I was a ninja - an assassin, a killer for hire," he informed Euram. "I killed for money, and have been for the majority of my life. Most of my mannerisms are centered around what I learned growing up as a ninja, but I came to the conclusion those mannerisms weren't...well, weren't very honorable. So I came here, in hopes I could change myself." He paused again. "It's a lot harder than it seems."
Euram's eyes widened and the chair-legs made an overly loud squeak against the floor as he backed up. He was naturally afraid of anyone that sounded like nethergate, the war of succession and the consequences of it had put a healthy fear into most anyone touched by it. "Why…Why are you telling me this? It isn't similar at all!" his voice cracked a bit as he tried to hard to be forceful. Certainly he couldn't be compared to a killer.
"The basics are the same," Watari shrugged. "We both have problems with ourselves we are trying to fix." He rose and straightened his apron, begining to walk back towards the kitchen. "The difference is, I've actually taken the advice of some of the people around me, and used it."
"The basics aren't the same! Not at all!" Euram shouted, trying to convince himself more than the other. He didn't want to be compared to a killer. He wasn't that bad, he hadn't killed anyo… He pushed his plate away and stared off to the side. "It's not the same," he said sounding like a petulant child.
Watari looked at him over his shoulder with his visible eye, cool and distant. "With an attitude like that, you'll never change," he said darkly and walked completley composed back into the kitchen.
Euram snapped his head over to look at him as he left. Hey, he hadn't been done talking to him, Watari wasn't playing by the rules he had just made up. He stood up and followed behind the other into the kitchen. "How have you changed? You can't state that I need to take advice of others and not offer any!"
"How have I changed?" Watari asked as he begining getting out the ingrediants to start another pastry. "I've changed in ways you can't comprehend. I'll give an example though. I used to view people and their feelings as useless baggage, simply things that held one back from completing a mission. Now, I think, I have friends." He dropped a bag of flour on the counter and turned to Euram and pointed a finger at him. "My advice to you is to get your nose out of the air and grind it into the dirt a little bit."
Euram watched Watari make preparations with little idea of what he was doing, focused instead on his words. "But…" he started instinctively, but managed to catch himself before going into a complete 'flinch' as Watari had put it. "…It would be shameful," he had tried to explain that to others before, why couldn't they understand?
Watari arched a brow as he began sorting ingredients and thrusting them in bowls. "How so?" he asked.
Euram had tried to stay calm, but thinking all of these things were making that impossible. "How so?" he cried out desperately. "Don't you understand? I'm the house of Barows is one of the oldest noble lines in Falena! We have shared blood with Royalty! I'm…I'm the head of that house now; doing that would be… disgraceful to say the least!" He didn't know why he was saying all of this to someone he barely knew, but somehow as he stood panting he felt better as if saying it out loud had helped things make more sense.
Watari took out a mixing spatula and began to stir the ingredients in his bowl. "Have you ever actually read the histories on noble families and royalty?" he asked Euram.
Euram looked at him confused. "Of course…well not read, per say, but Dad told me all about it."
Watari set the bowl aside and moved past Euram for more ingredients. "Well, if you read the actual histories, you'll find that those nobles that actually listened to the people they governed, went out and talked to them like a normal person, they were the best rulers, and the most liked. You, with your nose so high in the air, can barely get along with other nobles, much less the people you would one day rule."
Euram stepped out of Watari's way blinking as he tried to take all of that in. "But…" he was about to protest on habit, but stopped before going any further. He did do that. He talked to the people of Rainwall quite often, but they didn't seem to like him. He knew many of the other nobles did not, especially after Oboro had announced their involvement in Lordlake. Watari made too much sense, but he still didn't know what to do.
Watari thrust a bag of chocolate bits at Euram. "If you plan to be in the kitchen, but useful. Measure out three cups of those." He set down a measuring cup next to Euram and went back to the bowl, adding more ingredients.
Euram grabbed the bag not sure what was going on. "Oh!" he exclaimed a moment after the words suddenly made sense. He had never actually been handed ingredients in a kitchen, but the instructions had been easy enough and it would give him something to do while he worked through his thoughts. He poured out the chips into the cup, flailing as one spilled in an attempt to keep the rest in the bag. His bumbling of course caused more to spill over the counter, but most managed to stay in the bag and the mess was not too large. "Where do I put it?"
"Pour it into the bowl," Watari nodded to the one he had been mixing as he went to the ice box. "Then stir them into the mix," he continued as he rummaged.
"Oh," Euram put the chips into the bowl and mixed, not entirely aware he was doing so. He was still lost in his own thoughts and followed the orders instinctively. If he hadn't been trying to think so hard he surely would have complained about being told to 'cook' of all things.
Watari came back over and set out more ingrediants, but put them to the side and brought out a pan. "Pour the batter in and stick it in the oven will I slice these and get them ready," he said as he took the fruits and began to slice them.
The orders had reached a level of complexity that took Euram off of auto-pilot. He looked over at Watari and watched him prepare the fruits, before moving to pour the batter into the pan anyway. "Is this a normal skill for assassins where you are from?" he asked setting the bowl back down.
"No," Watari replied. "I learned from a client when I seperated from the clan."
"Ah, most interesting," Euram said, mostly to just have something to say. Watari could have said anything and gotten the same response. He didn't know where the oven was and so merely leaned against the counter by the bowl. "This is truly a peculiar place."
"Budehuc or the kitchen?" Watari asked, gently moving Euram over with a shoulder to take bowl and pan, pour, and put in the oven before returning to slicing and dicing.
Euram moved out of his way, still watching curiously as Watari moved about the kitchen. "Budehuc of course," he said, but smiled. "Though, I have never looked at a kitchen closely, perhaps this one is peculiar as well."
Watari shrugged. "It's about mid-size," he said. "I've worked in bigger, but not for long, and this one is about the right size for the amount of traffic."
"Ah, well there you go," Euram said more animated. "Clearly the castle master should be informed to increase the size of the kitchens. The traffic should increase along with the size, and make for easier preparation of food." He didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't care, it wasn't about his problems so it was a good conversation.
"Not necessarily," Watari noted. "I worked in a small shop once, and they were always busy. Sometimes increasing space can take away from quality because of the need to hire more people to work the space. Being small isn't bad, just depends on how you handle it."
"The workings of a kitchen are more complex then I had imagined previous," Euram said almost intrigued. There was a lot to think about, too much. It was like when Luserina told him about all the work she did around Rainwall, far too much to think about.
"Because now you have taken your nose out of the air," Watari said, tapping Euram's head with a clean spatula.
Euram flinched at the bop on his head but straightened instantly. He smiled sheepishly recognizing it as what he assumed was praise, or close enough for him. "This is surely not the 'dirt' you mentioned previous."
"No," Watari nodded. "But I didn't expect you to just jump off a cliff and hit the dirt either."
"You have a gift for metaphor," Euram complimented. He ran a finger over the counter and dusted off the flour he picked up with his thumb. "This is much preferable to dirt I will admit."
"So I am told," Watari admitted to the metaphor business. He watched Euram run a finger through the flour. "You may come and help me cook whenever you wish, but - " and he paused to emphasis the next bit. "You must follow my orders, no matter what. No backtalk. No sass. And no temper tantrums."
Euram shrank back against the counter at the admonishment contained in his words. He hadn't been expecting the offer nor the rules. "U…understood."
Watari nodded and looked at a timer sitting next to the oven. "If you wish to wait a bit longer, the cake will be done. Since you helped make it, you earned yourself a peice."
"I believe I shall remain," Euram said, tilting his head as he watched the oven. "The last piece I was given has certainly gone cold by now."
"More than likely," Watari agreed as he took a bottle of icing and fitted an attachment to the nozzle and got the fruits ready, along with a bowl of icing.
They waited for a few more minutes, and then the buzzer went off. Watari went to the oven and took out the cake. He let it sit before a moment, and then carefully removed it with narry a crumb escaping. Swiftly, yet almost tenderly, he began to wash it over with the dark icing, then placed the fruits on it in a decorative, patterned display, and added scalloped edges around the cake's rim. "I hope you like red velvet."
Euram watched from over Watari's shoulder as he prepared the cake, much like a small child fascinated by the application of frosting. "Velvet? On a cake?"
"Oh, no, that's the name of the cake," Watari said as he picked up a serving knife and divided the cake evenly. He pulled a peice out, revealing a rich red center with swirls of chocolate running through it. He laid it on a plate and handed it to Euram.
"Oh, of course," Euram said as though he knew that all along. He took the plate staring at the very colorful cake. "Beautifully done," he complimented, "truly a masterful work. Almost a shame to eat such a thing; I suppose this is what they mean by having your cake and eating it too." He broke off into the noble laugh he had perfected years ago, but broke off into silence actually realizing how ridiculous he may have sounded.
Watari made no comment besides cocking his brow and begining to clean up the cooking mess.
Euram glanced down at the cake and the rest of the kitchen sheepishly. "I see you have more work to do, I would be loath to be in the way," he said already starting a slow retreat. "Perhaps I will take you up on the offer to return later."
"At least finish the cake," Watari admonished. "It is the polite thing to do."
"Naturally, naturally," Euram said locating a fork. He finished the cake in silence and set the plate on the counter. "Until later then."
Watari nodded. "Ja ne, Euram," Watari called after him.
When: The other day
Where: Cafe
Watari tightened the neat bow of his frilly, pink-white-red 'Kiss the Cook' apron and wiped the sweat from his brow with a rag as he slaved over a hot stove and an oven. He loved baking cakes (the guilty pleasure of being a man with a sweet tooth), but sometimes he had to wonder if it was just to much work with such sticky summer heat moving in. Oh well. He just had to finish melting this last pit of chocolate for the icing layer and his newest creation would be complete! Luckily, the cafe was slow today - not a soul around at the moment.
Euram pushed open the door to the café, bringing in a burst of color the shop didn't really need. He was having such a hard time readjusting to live at Budehuc. He'd thought about things a lot while he'd been gone, and thought he could do things differently; but that had been proven wrong very quickly. He was troubled by that thought, and decided the best way to deal with it was to find something to distract himself; such as food. He moved to sit not paying any head to who was around, and waved his hand trying to get anyone who would bring him food's attention
Watari heard the slap of the door, which meant someone was in the cafe. Of course, Sheena was off somewhere not doing his job, and Mamie was on break. So that left Watari. He sighed and set aside the chocolate and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, heading out to the waiting customer.
"May I help you?" he asked as politley and genially as possible for him.
"Of course! I will…erk!" Euram stopped mid-sentence when he saw who had come up to the table. It was the pink haired man from earlier. He didn't know how to feel around him. He was kind of ashamed of how he'd acted before, but he couldn't bring himself to do something undignified like apologize for it. "What are you doing here?!" He finally blurted out, wild around the eyes.
Watari cocked a brow and looked at Euram, than down at the pad and pen in his hand the apron he was wearing. "I work here. I thought everyone around the castle knew that by now."
"Oh…of course," Euram said as if he actually knew that. "That would more properly explain how your hair came to be pink…" In a rare event he didn't know what to say. He hated feeling like this, he didn't understand it or what he should do to get through it.
Watari eyed the young man, aware of how awkward he seemed to feel. He put the pad and paper away. "I'm almost done making a cake," Watari offered him. "I could get you slice, along with some Oolong tea."
Watari nodded and went back to the kitchen. He took an extra moment to brew the tea and put the finishing touches on the cake before reappearing. He set the cup of tea before Euram, than the cake. It was a square block, a fairly good portion. The cake had sort of light, light mocha color to it, two layers seperated by a spread of chocolate and vanilla swirl, with a striped iced topping - the light mocha, and darker chocolate. An alteration of chocolate, mocha, and cherries with no stems ran its length on top. He set the fork down and inclined his head.
"Enjoy sir."
Euram sighed and slumped against the table when Watari left him alone for a moment. His elbows were up on the table as he rested his forehead on his hands. He stayed this way until he heard Watari speak again, and jumped slightly startled. "Ah," he said noticing the cake, oh it actually looked good; one thing going his way today. "Most excellent! My compliments to the chef!" He had already forgotten that Watari said he had made it in his desire to have something to say.
Watari said nothing and took out a rag, moving to the next table over to begin wiping it down (though it didn't really need it).
Euram ate a piece of the cake suddenly not very hungry. The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. Most of him wanted to just leave until things made sense again, but he'd decided he wouldn't do that anymore. He sighed loudly again and prodded at the cake with his fork.
Watari looked over at him. "Is the cake not to your liking?" he asked.
"What? No no, quite good," he said said over earnestly. "Though, my my, quite on the rich side, ha ha…haa…" He trailed off again staring down at the plate twirling the fork in his hand. "I must say I am quite surprised by your civility considering our…previous encounter."
"You were acting like a foolish child then, so I treated you as one," Watari shrugged. "You aren't now, so I won't."
Euram abruptly turned his head to stare angrily at Watari. "You are not skilled in the ways of tact I see! Such things should never be stated so…so…Such insults should not be stated!"
Watari returned Euram's gaze calmly, wiping his hands on his apron. "Who said it was an insult? It was a statement of fact. You know as well as I do that you were throwing a temper tantrum simply because I would not give you the self-satisfying pity you desired and pointed out that you were the cause of our own misfortune. I don't make a habit out of encouraging such foolish behavior."
Euram's glare became less forceful with each of Watari's words. His shoulders contracted in on themselves as he instinctively made himself small with each jab he knew to be true. "Stop it!" he cried out suddenly almost cutting off Watari's last word. "Who are you to say such things to me? You will cease! Stop!" He might be coming to the realization that it was true, but he did not need someone he barely knew telling him!
Watari went silent, watching Euram contract. He reached out, putting a hand on Euram's head and tilting it back gently so Euram was looking up at him. "Stop flinching," Watari said gently.
"I'm not flinching," Euram whined, sounding more like a petulant child than when he threw tantrums.
"That's not what I meant," Watari said, releasing him. "I meant that whenever someone criticises you, stop just blocking them out right away. I can see you know you need to make yourself better, but you can't do that on your own either."
Euram looked away as soon as he was released. "You don't know me or anything of the situation…I don't see how you can try to give advice."
Watari paused for what seemed a long time, than slowly took a seat across from Euram. "I'm trying to change too," he admitted.
Euram straightened in his seat instinctively when another person sat down. "How do you mean?" he asked uncertainly.
"Are you aware of what my past profession was?" he asked Euram. Watari was sure that his attire gave it away, but some people...well, you know.
"How would I know that?" Euram asked loudly. "There has not been reason for you to come up in my discussions as of late as we have never talked beyond these two encounters."
Watari rolled his eye, but ignored the sass. "I was a ninja - an assassin, a killer for hire," he informed Euram. "I killed for money, and have been for the majority of my life. Most of my mannerisms are centered around what I learned growing up as a ninja, but I came to the conclusion those mannerisms weren't...well, weren't very honorable. So I came here, in hopes I could change myself." He paused again. "It's a lot harder than it seems."
Euram's eyes widened and the chair-legs made an overly loud squeak against the floor as he backed up. He was naturally afraid of anyone that sounded like nethergate, the war of succession and the consequences of it had put a healthy fear into most anyone touched by it. "Why…Why are you telling me this? It isn't similar at all!" his voice cracked a bit as he tried to hard to be forceful. Certainly he couldn't be compared to a killer.
"The basics are the same," Watari shrugged. "We both have problems with ourselves we are trying to fix." He rose and straightened his apron, begining to walk back towards the kitchen. "The difference is, I've actually taken the advice of some of the people around me, and used it."
"The basics aren't the same! Not at all!" Euram shouted, trying to convince himself more than the other. He didn't want to be compared to a killer. He wasn't that bad, he hadn't killed anyo… He pushed his plate away and stared off to the side. "It's not the same," he said sounding like a petulant child.
Watari looked at him over his shoulder with his visible eye, cool and distant. "With an attitude like that, you'll never change," he said darkly and walked completley composed back into the kitchen.
Euram snapped his head over to look at him as he left. Hey, he hadn't been done talking to him, Watari wasn't playing by the rules he had just made up. He stood up and followed behind the other into the kitchen. "How have you changed? You can't state that I need to take advice of others and not offer any!"
"How have I changed?" Watari asked as he begining getting out the ingrediants to start another pastry. "I've changed in ways you can't comprehend. I'll give an example though. I used to view people and their feelings as useless baggage, simply things that held one back from completing a mission. Now, I think, I have friends." He dropped a bag of flour on the counter and turned to Euram and pointed a finger at him. "My advice to you is to get your nose out of the air and grind it into the dirt a little bit."
Euram watched Watari make preparations with little idea of what he was doing, focused instead on his words. "But…" he started instinctively, but managed to catch himself before going into a complete 'flinch' as Watari had put it. "…It would be shameful," he had tried to explain that to others before, why couldn't they understand?
Watari arched a brow as he began sorting ingredients and thrusting them in bowls. "How so?" he asked.
Euram had tried to stay calm, but thinking all of these things were making that impossible. "How so?" he cried out desperately. "Don't you understand? I'm the house of Barows is one of the oldest noble lines in Falena! We have shared blood with Royalty! I'm…I'm the head of that house now; doing that would be… disgraceful to say the least!" He didn't know why he was saying all of this to someone he barely knew, but somehow as he stood panting he felt better as if saying it out loud had helped things make more sense.
Watari took out a mixing spatula and began to stir the ingredients in his bowl. "Have you ever actually read the histories on noble families and royalty?" he asked Euram.
Euram looked at him confused. "Of course…well not read, per say, but Dad told me all about it."
Watari set the bowl aside and moved past Euram for more ingredients. "Well, if you read the actual histories, you'll find that those nobles that actually listened to the people they governed, went out and talked to them like a normal person, they were the best rulers, and the most liked. You, with your nose so high in the air, can barely get along with other nobles, much less the people you would one day rule."
Euram stepped out of Watari's way blinking as he tried to take all of that in. "But…" he was about to protest on habit, but stopped before going any further. He did do that. He talked to the people of Rainwall quite often, but they didn't seem to like him. He knew many of the other nobles did not, especially after Oboro had announced their involvement in Lordlake. Watari made too much sense, but he still didn't know what to do.
Watari thrust a bag of chocolate bits at Euram. "If you plan to be in the kitchen, but useful. Measure out three cups of those." He set down a measuring cup next to Euram and went back to the bowl, adding more ingredients.
Euram grabbed the bag not sure what was going on. "Oh!" he exclaimed a moment after the words suddenly made sense. He had never actually been handed ingredients in a kitchen, but the instructions had been easy enough and it would give him something to do while he worked through his thoughts. He poured out the chips into the cup, flailing as one spilled in an attempt to keep the rest in the bag. His bumbling of course caused more to spill over the counter, but most managed to stay in the bag and the mess was not too large. "Where do I put it?"
"Pour it into the bowl," Watari nodded to the one he had been mixing as he went to the ice box. "Then stir them into the mix," he continued as he rummaged.
"Oh," Euram put the chips into the bowl and mixed, not entirely aware he was doing so. He was still lost in his own thoughts and followed the orders instinctively. If he hadn't been trying to think so hard he surely would have complained about being told to 'cook' of all things.
Watari came back over and set out more ingrediants, but put them to the side and brought out a pan. "Pour the batter in and stick it in the oven will I slice these and get them ready," he said as he took the fruits and began to slice them.
The orders had reached a level of complexity that took Euram off of auto-pilot. He looked over at Watari and watched him prepare the fruits, before moving to pour the batter into the pan anyway. "Is this a normal skill for assassins where you are from?" he asked setting the bowl back down.
"No," Watari replied. "I learned from a client when I seperated from the clan."
"Ah, most interesting," Euram said, mostly to just have something to say. Watari could have said anything and gotten the same response. He didn't know where the oven was and so merely leaned against the counter by the bowl. "This is truly a peculiar place."
"Budehuc or the kitchen?" Watari asked, gently moving Euram over with a shoulder to take bowl and pan, pour, and put in the oven before returning to slicing and dicing.
Euram moved out of his way, still watching curiously as Watari moved about the kitchen. "Budehuc of course," he said, but smiled. "Though, I have never looked at a kitchen closely, perhaps this one is peculiar as well."
Watari shrugged. "It's about mid-size," he said. "I've worked in bigger, but not for long, and this one is about the right size for the amount of traffic."
"Ah, well there you go," Euram said more animated. "Clearly the castle master should be informed to increase the size of the kitchens. The traffic should increase along with the size, and make for easier preparation of food." He didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't care, it wasn't about his problems so it was a good conversation.
"Not necessarily," Watari noted. "I worked in a small shop once, and they were always busy. Sometimes increasing space can take away from quality because of the need to hire more people to work the space. Being small isn't bad, just depends on how you handle it."
"The workings of a kitchen are more complex then I had imagined previous," Euram said almost intrigued. There was a lot to think about, too much. It was like when Luserina told him about all the work she did around Rainwall, far too much to think about.
"Because now you have taken your nose out of the air," Watari said, tapping Euram's head with a clean spatula.
Euram flinched at the bop on his head but straightened instantly. He smiled sheepishly recognizing it as what he assumed was praise, or close enough for him. "This is surely not the 'dirt' you mentioned previous."
"No," Watari nodded. "But I didn't expect you to just jump off a cliff and hit the dirt either."
"You have a gift for metaphor," Euram complimented. He ran a finger over the counter and dusted off the flour he picked up with his thumb. "This is much preferable to dirt I will admit."
"So I am told," Watari admitted to the metaphor business. He watched Euram run a finger through the flour. "You may come and help me cook whenever you wish, but - " and he paused to emphasis the next bit. "You must follow my orders, no matter what. No backtalk. No sass. And no temper tantrums."
Euram shrank back against the counter at the admonishment contained in his words. He hadn't been expecting the offer nor the rules. "U…understood."
Watari nodded and looked at a timer sitting next to the oven. "If you wish to wait a bit longer, the cake will be done. Since you helped make it, you earned yourself a peice."
"I believe I shall remain," Euram said, tilting his head as he watched the oven. "The last piece I was given has certainly gone cold by now."
"More than likely," Watari agreed as he took a bottle of icing and fitted an attachment to the nozzle and got the fruits ready, along with a bowl of icing.
They waited for a few more minutes, and then the buzzer went off. Watari went to the oven and took out the cake. He let it sit before a moment, and then carefully removed it with narry a crumb escaping. Swiftly, yet almost tenderly, he began to wash it over with the dark icing, then placed the fruits on it in a decorative, patterned display, and added scalloped edges around the cake's rim. "I hope you like red velvet."
Euram watched from over Watari's shoulder as he prepared the cake, much like a small child fascinated by the application of frosting. "Velvet? On a cake?"
"Oh, no, that's the name of the cake," Watari said as he picked up a serving knife and divided the cake evenly. He pulled a peice out, revealing a rich red center with swirls of chocolate running through it. He laid it on a plate and handed it to Euram.
"Oh, of course," Euram said as though he knew that all along. He took the plate staring at the very colorful cake. "Beautifully done," he complimented, "truly a masterful work. Almost a shame to eat such a thing; I suppose this is what they mean by having your cake and eating it too." He broke off into the noble laugh he had perfected years ago, but broke off into silence actually realizing how ridiculous he may have sounded.
Watari made no comment besides cocking his brow and begining to clean up the cooking mess.
Euram glanced down at the cake and the rest of the kitchen sheepishly. "I see you have more work to do, I would be loath to be in the way," he said already starting a slow retreat. "Perhaps I will take you up on the offer to return later."
"At least finish the cake," Watari admonished. "It is the polite thing to do."
"Naturally, naturally," Euram said locating a fork. He finished the cake in silence and set the plate on the counter. "Until later then."
Watari nodded. "Ja ne, Euram," Watari called after him.