PM to join Food Fight

[Isaac Iceglaze]

Date: 44th of Summer, 516AV
Time: 9th Bell
Location: Winterflame Hold

Isaac wasn’t sure he heard correctly. He stared at his superior with brows so furrowed that he was practically squinting.

“Um,” he paused, gathering his thoughts. The more he tried to make sense of it, the less plausible it seemed.
“Sir, you’re asking me to go to a party and eat.” Isaac crossed his arms and continued to stare. He almost felt insulted. Here he was, in good shape after a dull season of helping his father with work at the quarry, and all he wanted to do was get back into action with the Icewatch. Isaac was ready for a challenge - not a free lunch.

“You’re not eating, you’re taste testing. It’s quality assurance, bud. Important stuff,” Jaerith replied, unfazed, his eyes fixated on chopping the last piece of blubber fat off a slab of fresh seal meat.
“Listen,” he sighed, reeling back a bit on his forceful tone. “Winterflame has high standards,” he looked up at the young Kelvic standing on the other side of the wooden table. Isaac was still confused, but he nodded at the man before him, waiting for him to continue. How the petch do you ‘assure’ quality? Why have ‘standards’ for food? You eat to survive, that’s all. Who cares how it tastes?

The Sulnara scraped the fat off to the side of the table and positioned his piece of meat in front of him before turning his attention back to Issac. “Everyone at the soiree will be leaving with a full stomach as per Morwen’s orders,” he said, waving his butcher’s knife about in the air as he spoke. “And it is our duty to ensure that the food we’ve provided is both safe to eat and perfectly delicious. Understood?” Jaerith pointed the knife at the Kelvic, expectantly.

As the commander of the Winterflame branch, Jaerith had been put in charge of managing the food supply at tonight's Aurora Soiree. He’d gathered a few Icewatch guards to assist with organizing stock for the chefs and decided that this occasion would be the perfect opportunity to hand out some Apprentice Tasks. Isaac was soon randomly assigned to report to Jaerith at the Winterflame Hold, where he now found himself face-to-face with a serious, greenish-haired older man who was apparently also an expert at preparing meats.

“Yes sir,” Isaac uncrossed his arms and scratched his head. “You want me to check if the food is good. But sir, my idea of good probably isn’t the same as your idea of good.” At this, the Sulnara smirked. He recognized the reasoning behind Isaac’s concern and quickly came up with a way to explain…

[Isaac Iceglaze]

“Alright junior, watch carefully.” The Sulnara took his knife and cut a thick slice off one side and another perpendicular slice off another side of the seal meat.

“Winterflame’s idea of ‘good food’ is based on extensive knowledge. Our idea of good is so good that even a rookie like yourself can taste the difference. Here, you’re going to eat both pieces and tell me which one you prefer. Say ‘AH’,” Jaerith instructed as he threw the first slice towards the Kelvic’s face.

The suddenness of the Sulnara’s playful demonstration caught Isaac by surprise. He stifled a grin and opened wide, quickly stepping back a bit to catch the flying piece of raw meat in his mouth. The Kelvic immediately began chewing, then swallowed the piece in less than 5 ticks. “Mm. Ok, but—”

“Na-uh, wait until you try the other one. This is important—carefully examine your initial reaction, but keep quiet until you’ve tried all of the presented options, and then you’ll have a better-informed opinion. Got it?” Isaac nodded, processing the info, his senses now heightened from the scrumptious morsel.

“Okay, next one,” The Sulnara threw the slice farther this time, forcing the Kelvic to dash to the back of the room and jump. He caught the edge of the slice with his teeth at the height of his leap and chomped forwards, letting a piece of the meat fall into his hands. The Kelvic stuffed the remains in his mouth, licked his fingers, and continued to chew as Jaerith chuckled.

“Good catch. Now,” he motioned Isaac forwards. “Which one tastes better?” Isaac stared earnestly while chewing,

“Der both good sher,” he answered, wiping the back of his hand across his lips. He gulped down the mouthful and figured his answer wasn’t enough. “Um,” Isaac took a moment to remember the first slice and compare it with the one he just ate. “Well, I guess the first one was nice and easier to eat.”

“Exactly, you got it,” Jaerith reached over to slap the Kelvic on his back with a smile. “Wanna know why? Look,” he pointed at the seal meat. “Do you see the muscle fibres here? They all run in the same direction,” Jaerith grabbed his knife and placed the edge over the meat, tracing it as he explained. “There’s two ways you can cut this. With the grain, which means cutting parallel to the direction of the fibres, or against the grain, which means cutting across. When you cut with the grain, you end up with slices that have long muscle fibres that are tougher for most people’s teeth to break through. Slices against the grain end up being tender and juicy when they’re cooked. Makes sense?”

Isaac nodded. It seemed like such an ordinary detail. He still felt like he wouldn’t have cared how his meat was cut, but he did taste the difference. Maybe Jaerith was right, maybe there was more to ‘good food’ than he thought.

"Great, you're done here. Head to the Crystal Hall in the evening and find Cerves, he'll tell you what he needs."

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

Count to ten. Breathe.

The advice her mother had given her in an attempt to deal with her so called sisters was echoing through her mind. Rattling like it was the last life line. It probably was, because while Alekxandra was not an easy person to anger, the current situation was inching closer to that line that very few had ever crossed.

The day had started off so promising too. Her boss had insisted he needed extra hands to ensure preparations for the soiree went in order. She had been one of the first to volunteer. The chance to see some of the more difficult techniques used for impressing the masses would be utilized and she craved learning something just a little different than her usual cooking at the commons. It wasn’t a chance she was willing to miss, but somehow everything had fallen so far off the mark.

Her posture undoubtedly gave away her fading patience at that. Alek’s arms were crossed so tightly across her chest it was actually a little hard to breath, making her mother’s advice almost moot. Her fingers dug into her upper arms and there was no doubt her skin would be marked with angry red splotches if she moved them. Her jaw worked its way back and forth, lips slightly pursed as she glared at the two gentlemen in front of her. Not that she was entirely sure ‘gentlemen’ was the correct standing for them at the moment.

In general Alek liked Cerves. His shop was one of the first places she hit when she had a sweet tooth and she often felt his attitude was enjoyable to be around. The older gentleman standing across from Cerves she was more unfamiliar with. He was of her hold as well, but she really didn’t recognize the man. At one point she was certain Cerves called him Yerval though. At the moment she couldn’t stand either of them however. They were pigheaded and stubborn. Not to mention they were completely ruining any chance she had to learn something new. At first it hadn’t been a big deal, but then the fight hadn’t been very big to begin with. Something that had started as little as arrangements, resources, and time. And every word out of their mouths just ate at her patience.

At first she had tried to avoid the two of them like the others now giving the fight a wide berth. But she made the mistake of offering advice in an attempt to keep the fight from escalating and now she was in the middle of it. The problem for her was she was never any good at getting out of the middle. Once Alek was snagged she knew she had to either keep her mouth shut, or make matters worse… and she was spiraling towards the latter.

”The desserts won’t match the entree if you do it that way! Right?” Cerves glanced at her and Alek bit her bottom lip to keep from replying.

”Why are you asking her? She’s barely got any skills under her belt!” The older man bit out. Alek couldn’t help but growl low in her throat as she felt her final straw of patience snap in two.

”Oh who cares!?” She bit out at the to of them. Voice raised to almost a shout, she released her arms so she could point at the two of them.

”If you keep going this way we’ll never get anywhere!” The two gaped at her a moment, before Yerval snorted and began counting off all the ways the dessert should match his entree and Cerves dived right back in.

Alek however let out a weak groan, dropping her head into her hands.

Find a happy place. Please Morwen give me a happy place!