Easy as Pie (Orin)

by **Sayana** on March 19th, 2015, 10:13 pm

Spring 21, 515 AV

Sayana excitedly left her apartment that morning. It was starting to warm up and she decided to forgo her usual grey wool coat. As she left the winding corridors of the Maiden District she was greeted by a warm breeze out in the narrow streets. The Eypharian gave a quick spin as she continued on her way and flared up her long red skirt for a moment. This was what weather should be like. Warm but not sweltering, and most definitely not freezing cold. There had been a couple of warm days here and there, but not quite like this. Of course, the dancers still wore her long red sleeves that adorned her six arms as well as her bright beaded top. It wasn’t yet warm enough to get rid of the sleeves. At her hip she had her usual cobra dagger tucked into her belt as well as two small throwing daggers. In her low hands she carried her typical dance props including a silken piece of cloth, two pairs of finger cymbals, a tambourine and a pair of shakers. Today she had agreed to help Orin bake some pies, but she wanted to have her things with her to perform in case it took most of the day.

Pie. It was a sickly sweet delicacy that she rarely had. Back home she had tasted a couple pies made from fruits like dates and figs and had they ever been rich. The dancer licked her lips at the thought. Mostly, she was ever so thankful that this morning she didn’t wake up with the urge to vomit. The morning sickness had been plaguing her for many days now and it was a relief to have some respite from the nausea. Maybe that was what put her in such a good mood. Regardless, as the compressing walls opened up into the open area in front of the main gates, Sayana ran towards the taverns with carefree abandon. She whipped out her large silken veil and held it aloft in her high hands so it billowed behind her. Her feet pounded hard upon the soft grassy ground and it only took a few chimes to reach the Rearing Stallion.

For a moment she leaned against the wall of the tavern panting heavily but there was a giddy smile on her face. To run free without constraint and to enjoy the little beauties of life… She glanced at green grass sprouting in the middle of the open area. Now that the snow was melting there seemed to be a multitude of life that contrasted so sharply to Ahnatep. After a couple more heavy breaths, Sayana finally opened the door to step inside the tavern. It was practically empty, but that was to be expected first thing in the morning. She headed straight for the kitchens in the back and let the silken veil float lightly behind her. Though when she stepped into the kitchen she quickly put it away along with her other dance things. It wouldn’t do to get it stained with flour or sauce.

“See Orin? I told you I could get here early today.” Sayana called out as she headed straight for the washbasin. Remi had been rather insistent lately that she wash her hands, all of them, before cooking. It had been a few days since Sayana had offered to help with the baking and even though she performed every evening at the Stallion, she didn’t always get to see Orin. Usually he was in the back being far too busy and she was up on the dais getting all the attention. With a grin she turned around to see the cook, but her smile faded when she saw an ugly mark on his cheek. “How’d you manage that…?” She questioned and brushed her own cheek at the same spot in reference to his wound.

OOC Outline :

by **Orin Fenix** on March 20th, 2015, 12:37 am

Orin stared at the rows of baskets in front of him. They were filled with various fruits and early berries. Apparently, there was a pie-eating contest scheduled tomorrow and The Rearing Stallion wanted in on it. Remi had delegated the task to Rondo, which of course meant that it had fallen squarely on Orin’s shoulders. It would have been nearly impossible for Orin to complete it alone so he had begged Sayana to assist him. She had agreed and Orin had left with a happy heart. He still hadn’t mentioned to her his training session with Aren since he also hadn’t seen her for a few days. Otherwise it inevitably would have come up. The signs of that night were clear enough. Orin was covered in small cuts bruises all over. At least he was finally able to walk at a more normal pace and the aching had faded as the days passed. Orin didn’t regret his decision in the slightest. Even though he’d limped away, he’d gained self-confidence and a respect for himself that he’d been sorely lacking.

Orin went to the pantry and began pulling out sacks of flour. They were heavy, and pressed against his still sore muscles uncomfortably. He wrestled them onto the table, and had to make several trips before he thought he had enough. He got out quite a bit of butter and as many eggs as he could find. Orin didn’t know exactly how many pies they would be baking, but he decided to err on the side of caution. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t simply return the ingredients back to the pantry where he had found them. They wouldn’t go bad in the short amount of time he’d be spending on this. When he was done with the foodstuffs, he went back and gathered together every cup, bowl, and pie dish that he could find on the shelves.

On his last trip, Orin spotted Sayana putting away some of her gear. They’d grown close since the night they’d officially met. She’ been coming in to help out in the kitchen as often as she could manage. After seeing their growing friendship, Remi had left Sayana’s lessons and training into Orin’s hands. Orin had been startled at first but had quickly grown accustomed to the role. He’d even begun to relax around Sayana, more than almost anyone else Orin had ever known. Still, the vivacious beauty was able to make him blush at least once, usually more, every time they spoke. And while Orin had been helping her maneuver her way through the kitchen, he still hadn’t gotten much of an opportunity to see her at work, since he had to stay in the back while she was dancing. But still, a glimpse was enough. Her style was incredibly sensuous and Orin couldn’t watch for more than a moment or he felt his cheeks start to flame.

”Well, I’m sorry for doubting you! I just felt bad, you know, since I know how late you stay here, to ask you to come in early as well. But seriously, thank you for this. I honestly couldn’t do this without you. You ready to get back to work?” Orin smiled slightly. He didn’t quite think that Sayana knew what she was getting into when she volunteered for this. Pointing at the cups, he requested, ”Do you mind filling those up? Once that’s ton, I’ll have you start separating the yolks from the egg. It’s very easy; you just crack it, pour the egg white from one half, pour the whites from the half with the yolk, and repeat that until the yolk is isolated. As I said, simple. Oh, and once you have a yolk, put it in one of the cups of water and stir it around a few times.” Orin at least didn’t have any troubles with it. He supposed that the first couple of times Sayana attempted it she might run into trouble. But it wasn’t difficult to master, especially if she did it as many times as she would have to.

With those tasks assigned, Orin was about to go and work on the other half of the dough when Sayana touched his cheek. Orin flushed. He had been trying to avoid this topic but he’d forgotten that his cheek was a nice purple. He sighed and backed away from Sayana slightly. ”Well, ah, that’s a funny story now. Because, you see, well, I fell. Multiple times.” Orin realized there was no point in trying to conceal it from her. Especially since Orin was a terrible liar and it was likely Aren would tell her anyway. ”Well, I might have had some help. From Aren. Don’t freak out though, I asked him to, after all. Even paid him for it. I was thinking that it turns out I’m basically defenseless and after what happened at your party, and with the Yukmen this winter, I had the thought that maybe it would be a good idea to, you know, get some official training. So I asked Aren to help me. And well, it might have gotten a little out of hand, but that was totally my fault and it was definitely worth it.” Orin slumped. That explanation hadn’t quite come out as clearly as he would have hoped. But it was out there.

Maybe it would be a good idea to check how everything was with Aren in the first place, before he worried if he would be stepping on someone’s toes. ”And, how is Aren? Between you two I mean, I know Aren himself is doing fine. And with the baby? When’s it due anyway?” Orin gulped. It might be a good idea for him to get back to the cooking before he started making even more of a fool of himself than he already had. He started opening the sacks of flour and pouring them into bowls. Once he had done that, Orin started breaking off chunks of butter up and mixing them together with the flour. It was an incredibly calming motion for him. It helped him gather his thoughts together from the places they had scattered. Hopefully the next time he responded to Sayana, it would be a bit more coherent.

by **Sayana** on March 21st, 2015, 3:00 am

Sayana proceeded to find an apron of Remi’s and put it on knowing that it wouldn’t do to get her performance clothes stained. The cook explained what to do with the eggs and she was about to get started but then he also explained how he managed to get the purplish bruise on his face. He fell… multiple times? She raised an eyebrow in expectation that he would continue, for she clearly wasn’t convinced. To be quite honest, he sounded quite meek in his explanation of the ‘training’. But then again, he was the one who had stuttered out a lengthy rambling apology at the party for their last conflict.

Sayana went to get started on the eggs. There were quite a few of them in a basket and she noted the cups that Orin had set aside for the yolks. The dancer took one egg comfortably in her hand and used the blunt edge of a knife to tap it hard enough to break the shell. She was about to open up the egg when Orin asked about Aren. Pausing for a moment Sayana answered, “Oh yeah, Aren is good. He’s in and out. I mean, I’ve got my performances and he’s got… well his work. And the baby…” She let out an ironic laugh followed by a sigh. “Well, I’ve been sick to my stomach nearly every morning this spring, but Devi says it’s all normal. And well, I’ve seen other women go through that too.”

She slowly tried to pry open the egg. It was hard getting her fingers into the crack but at last she managed to get it open as she hovered over a bowl. “Whoops,” she muttered as all the contents of the egg plopped into the bowl. “And the baby’s due… Well I think Aren said that Akalak are different and it takes a whole year. Or did Devi say that? Anyways, it should come in the middle of winter next year.” As she puzzled over the dilemma of the entire egg in the bowl she tentatively tried to grab at the yolk. The dancer thought back to her first two visits with Aren. Either of them could have gotten her pregnant and a grin crossed her face as she recalled how good each of those nights had felt.

As she struggled with the problem of the egg, she decided just to suck it up and dunk her hand into the eggy goo. Even as she was in the process of grabbing the yolk so it wouldn’t slip out, it somehow managed to get punctured. Quickly she managed to grab a cup and got the yolk into it but it was a sloppy ‘success’ due to all the egg white that had come along with it. She chewed at her lip for a moment looking at the result but then shrugged it off to try again with another egg.

This time she was paying a little more attention to what she was doing and as she pried open the egg she was careful that it didn’t all fall into the bowl like last time. Carefully holding the yolk in one half of the shell, she dumped the other half filled with egg white into the bowl. She slowly moved the yolk into the other shell and managed to get rid of more of the egg white from dumping the first shell. She proceeded until it was mostly just the yolk and then put it into an empty cup. Aha. There was still a bit of egg white left, but it was far better than her first attempt.

“So you and Aren, are things going alright? You seem kind of scared of him. Even if you do sound grateful for the training.” The dancer started on the next egg and found that it was getting easier. However, after she was done she looked critically at a small piece of eggshell that had fallen into the bowl of egg whites. She spent a chime or two trying to fish it out, since it kept slipping away each time she tried to trap it against the side of the bowl.

“You know, I know a thing or two about daggers. I’m probably nowhere near as good at being a warrior as Aren, but I’ve kept myself safe taverns with… unruly customers. But my methods might not be very conventional.” She was starting to get the hang of doing the eggs. Crack, pour, plop, pour, plop, pour, and dump into the cup. “Why do you want the yellow separated from the clear gooey stuff?” She asked in reference to the eggs as she was nearing the end of them.

by **Orin Fenix** on March 21st, 2015, 3:48 am

Orin cocked his head when Sayana gave a rather non-committal answer to his inquiries regarding Aren. It seemed as if the two of them hadn’t really been seeing much of each other recently, which didn’t make any sense to Orin at all. They seemed very much in love, or, at least Orin thought they were and nothing they had done or said contradicted that. So Orin couldn’t fathom why in the world would they not be spending every moment they possibly could together. If Orin every found someone he loved that much, which would never happen in a million years, Orin didn’t think he’d let them out of his sight unless forced to. He hesitated, but Orin was never one to not speak his mind. ”I know it’s not really my business or anything like that, and this is probably me just being nosy and prying, and you absolutely don’t have to answer this or anything but, is everything alright between you two? I don’t know, you don’t seem to be well, as happy or ecstatic as I would think you would be. I would be glowing, myself. You’re having a baby!” It was truly wondrous news, although Orin thought that carrying it for a whole year sounded like torture. Although presumably it would all be worth it.

Orin frowned at the mention of nausea. He wondered idly what the cause of it was. It didn’t sound at all pleasant, to be sick every time one woke up. ”Are there medicines you could take? I mean I personally know there are some soothing herbs and concoctions that I could get and prepare for you, nothing too fancy just some remedies that are supposed to be good for the stomach, really.” In fact, Orin was already thinking up a whole list of dishes he could prepare that people swore were the cure for an upset stomach. If Orin could do anything to ease this process for Sayana, then he had to offer. And it probably couldn’t hurt for Orin to try.

Seeing Sayana’s trouble with the first egg and her caution with the second, Orin grinned. ”I had a lot more problems the first time I tried this. So, keep up the good work! Actually, I’ve got a trick I can show you to speed up the process and maybe simplify it. It just requires your hands, and since you’ve got six of them to my two, I bet that you’ll be an expert in this in no time. Watch closely, although, again, it’s not a complicated method.” With that, Orin picked up the nearest egg, and cracked it over the edge of the bowl. Splitting it with his thumbs, Orin poured the egg white into the bowl then tossed the shell. He took the other half and held out his left hand over the bowl. He overturned the shell, and opened his fingers just slightly. The white streamed through his fingers, until he was left cradling the yolk. That he dumped into the cup, and then washed the residue off his hands. ”There you go! Take it slow at first we’ve got all day for this. Also, I should’ve asked you earlier, or, well, told you rather, but make sure your hands are clean.”

With that, Orin went back to making his flour and butter mixture. He’d already filled quite a few bowls and was running out of counter space quickly. Of course, around that point Orin realized he’d forgotten quite an important step. Calling out to Sayana, ”Hold on a tick,” Orin went to the spice cabinet and took out the saffron. It was literally worth its weight in gold and Orin held it reverently. Actually, strictly speaking, it was worth more than its weight in gold. He took it over to the cups of water, and began sprinkling in the barest pinch in each one, watching it dissolve greedily. Orin hadn’t ever actually worked with saffron before and Remi had drilled the recipe and the need to avoid wasting it into Orin’s head until Orin had started dreaming about it. More like nightmares, actually, where saffron in the shape of Remi would beat Orin up for misusing it. Orin figured he’d subconsciously been avoiding adding it for fear of messing up. Still, he managed to get to the end of the line of cups without mishap, and returned the saffron where it had come from with a distinct sense of relief. The cups with the yolk already in them with the saffron added after should be fine. ”I’m so sorry about that, totally my fault. You’re doing everything perfectly. Carry on please.”

However, her question about his relationship with Aren caught Orin off guard. He didn’t even help her with the small piece of eggshell that had gotten mixed up in the egg white he was so distracted. To be perfectly honest, Orin didn’t know how he felt about the Akalak. They’d come to an odd sort of understanding the other night. And Orin’s respect for the man had grown immeasurably as well, even if he had been carried off unconscious again. ”Well, obviously I’m scared of him, but I think any rational person would be, seeing as he’s downright deadly with that scythe of his and he’s got that magic he throws around to boot. Nasty stuff that, but effective.” Orin left out that he still found the man insufferable. Just because Orin wouldn’t question him and knew to his bones that Aren was a fighter didn’t mean that the man’s personality didn’t rub Orin’s the wrong way. And, in hindsight, Aren had been downright terrifying a few times during that evening, almost like a different person entirely. This train of thought was interrupted when Sayana commented that she could help Orin with his ongoing training. He beamed at her. ”Would you really? Train me that is, I’m absolutely hopeless at it, and I have pretty much no control over my body or my limbs at all. It’s downright embarrassing, actually. And dirty tactics are fine by me. I’m not strong enough to beat, well, anyone really in a fair fight.” Orin felt himself slipping into his old rambling ways, but seeing as Sayana didn’t seem to mind it, Orin wasn’t as careful about correcting it as he otherwise might have been.

Orin smiled at her question about egg whites and yolks and why they needed to be separated in the first place. It was something that he’d often wondered until he’d finally asked Remi about it. ”It’s funny you should ask. Apparently, and I don’t know this for a fact, but Remi is a pretty reputable source, I’d think you agree, that the egg whites and the yolks, as the yellow parts are called, add different properties to the baked good, something along those lines. Anyway, I don’t know the technicalities, but egg whites make the dough rise and add volume to it, which we definitely don’t want when we’re making pie. The yolk, on the other hand, just makes it moist and doesn’t let air bubbles get into it. So, for flat, moist dough, use the yolks only, for anything else use the whole egg.” Remi had tried to explain it further, but it had mostly gone over Orin’s head, and as long as Orin knew why it was important for cooking, he felt he didn’t really need to know. After all there were many objects that Orin didn’t know the inner workings of and yet still was able to use every day, and there was nothing wrong with that in Orin’s eyes.

by **Sayana** on March 21st, 2015, 11:17 am

When Orin pressed her about not being as happy as she should be with a baby on the way, Sayana forced a smile to her lips. “I am happy Orin! And even though Aren is in and out, I see him during the daytime in between his training sessions and he also comes to the Stallion in the evenings. Just because we’re together doesn’t mean that life stops. And today, this morning, I was not sick.” At her last statement she genuinely beamed. Yes she was excited to be a mother, but she was also anxious about what was down the road physically in terms of the pregnancy. And the recent nausea beginning almost every morning had not done much to lighten her mood. Yet she hoped that that stage was coming to an end.

At Orin’s suggestion of medicines, she perked up a little. She hadn’t considered taking any sort of medicine before since she figured as uncomfortable as it was, it was still rather natural. “I’ll have to talk to Devi about that. But if you have anything I could try, I would definitely be willing.” She gave a smile to the cook at his thoughtfulness and went back to doing up the eggs. As he came over to look, he also showed her an alternate technique. Everything seemed to make so much more sense at the new technique and she quickly grabbed another egg in her high hands to try it out. She cracked it on the edge of the bowl and opened the egg with her high hands. She caught it in her mids and sifted out the egg white from the yolk by spreading her fingers. And finally with a low hand she grabbed a cup and put the remaining yolk into it. “Well that’s a lot easier. And yes, I did wash my hands. First thing I did when I came into the kitchen. By Remi’s ‘strict orders’.”

From then on the Eypharian made quick work of the rest of the eggs. She kind of wondered why the cook had even bothered to teach her the first method, but maybe it was easier when you only had two hands? Even though each pair of hands were doing something different, each action happened one at a time for the most part so it was easy to manage. As he carried on to talk about Aren, she absently nodded with respect to the fact that Aren was probably quite intimidating with his ability to wield his scythe. However, when the cook mentioned that Aren had some sort of magic, Sayana frowned and was momentarily confused.

“Wait, what? Aren uses magic?” Sayana questioned with a hint of disbelief in her voice. For the most part she had regarded existence of magic in the same way she regarded the gods. The gods were there, they existed, but they weren’t… usually there. They weren’t really of the day to day physical world. They were something rather beyond that and only the rare individual interacted with the gods on a regular basis. As for magic, it existed. She had seen some strange things in her life and heard stories of desert people summoning water as a last resort. But while she accepted it, she didn’t understand it and she didn’t think she would befriend someone who frequently used magic.

She didn’t really listen much as Orin replied to her offer of practicing with daggers, for she was too distracted by this sudden insight on Aren. And while she got the general gist of the yolks versus the egg whites, they were suddenly very uninteresting. The eggs were done and she washed off the eggy goo from her mid and high hands. “What does Aren do with his magic? And I can help with something new. Do you want me to beat the eggs? Also, Remi says I’m pretty good at kneading dough.” She wiggled the fingers of all her hands bringing attention to the fact that she did have six hands.

by **Orin Fenix** on March 21st, 2015, 1:44 pm

Apparently Orin had misjudged the situation and his cheeks went red, ashamed that he had interpreted Sayana’s reluctance to discuss her situation as unhappiness with it. Obviously that had not been the case at all, and Orin hastened to correct his mistake. ”I’m sorry I can’t believe that I got that so wrong. I’m glad you’re happy and that Aren is happy and isn’t it great that we’re all happy? Orin sighed, then tried to actually talk normally. ”I just wanted to make sure he was doing right by you, I guess. I know it’s not my place, but well, I like to think we’re friends and isn’t that what friends are supposed to do? I, well, I don’t really know. I haven’t had a lot of friends. But that’s wonderful news about this morning. Orin offered Sayana a brave smile. He hoped that he wasn’t putting himself out there too much, but he didn’t think that Sayana was the type of person to do that. Although, now that Orin thought about it she had certainly shown that she had a temper at the party. Of course, so had Orin.

When Sayana asked him for advice, Orin’s mind was already racing far ahead. He wasn’t an expert on herbs but he was an expert, or, he liked to think that he was, on food, and he had drudged up every fact that he could to help Sayana. ”As for food, well, I know you like the spicier foods but they probably aren’t the best choice for you right now. Stick to blander foods. Broths of various kinds would be best, but also fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, spread your food out. I’ve found that eating many smaller meals is better for the stomach rather than three huge ones.”

Orin ran a hand through his hair multiple times, and then scratched his head. It was an unconscious gesture, one he often used when he was stressed or thinking deeply. ”Well, I’m not an herbalist, so I can’t really say for sure whether what will help you. I know batonal is supposed to help with internal discomfort. I know delaviv has something to do with deliveries, not sure it helps with nausea. Gigar might—wait no, that’s for colicky babies. A tea of hommos might be helpful, I think I heard someone say it aided it stomach pain. And ah, there are rumors about this one plant. It’s called, well it’s called Midwife Miracles, aptly so since apparently it’s used for pretty much every pregnancy ailment under the sun. Orin wasn’t entirely sure that last one even existed. He’d overheard two girls that he was living with discussing it in hushed whispers. But if it was real, it probably would be incredibly helpful for Sayana.

Orin paused. He had just assumed that Sayana would have known that Aren could use magic. He would have thought that it was one of those little personal details that were important to share when starting a new relationship. Especially since in two of the three times Orin had seen the warrior, Aren certainly hadn’t been shy about his magic usage. ”I think it might be best if you asked him this… Orin trailed off, then sighed. It wasn’t Orin’s problem if Aren had been withholding information from Sayana. Orin placed both hands on the table and leaned in closer to Sayana. ”He said it was called Reimancy and it has to do with, controlling the elements. He was throwing around gusts of winds to toss me about in our training and I’m pretty sure he threw a lightning bolt or a fireball or something that cooked one of the yukmen we encountered.” Orin kept his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. The knights were cracking down on magic and despite Orin’s own trepidations on the subject, he didn’t want to get Aren in trouble.

When Sayana declared herself finished with the eggs, Orin grinned widely at her and stepped over to admire her handiwork. ”Excellent job. Now, I’ll have you combine the egg, saffron and water with the flour and butter I’ve prepared. Like so.” Orin scooped up two of the cups. He figured since they were using such large bowls and making such large quantities, he’d be better off doubling all the ingredients. Dumping them into the bowl, Orin gave them a vigorous stir. However, the consistency wasn’t quite right, so Orin grabbed a clean bucket of water and started sprinkling water in gradually, until the ingredients were all a nice mix. ”Actually, while we’re at it, I’m going to show you the next step.”

Orin took out a rolling pin, and then broke off a chunk of dough. Placing it at an empty spot on the counter, Orin began rolling it until he had a thin slice. ”If you roll it to thin and make a hole, or tear it picking it up, just squish it all back together again and start over.” Orin carefully peeled his dough off the surface, and then placed it in a pie dish, spreading out the wrinkles incredibly carefully until it fit perfectly. He tore off the excess dough, and tossed it back into the bowl, pressing it in until it had recombined with the larger whole. ”Now, this next part is necessary. You need to poke holes in the bottom.” Taking up a fork, Orin stabbed downward until the bottom was littered with small punctures. Satisfied, Orin surveyed his work. He thought it had been a good demonstration. Turning to Sayana, Orin smiled. ”So I’m going to leave this in all six of your incredibly capable hands. Holler if you need me.”

That done Orin made his way over to the seemingly endless baskets of fruits and berries. Trying not to groan at the sheer numbers before him, Orin reached for the apples. He peeled and cored them with a sure hand, tossing the seeds and innards into a trash bucket. Next, Orin sliced them then set them aside for later. There were several different kinds of apples here. Orin figured he’d keep them separate instead of trying to mix and match the flavors. That was the easy part though, and Orin examined the rest of the fillings with a critical eye, planning out his next few steps carefully before diving into it.

by **Sayana** on March 21st, 2015, 5:41 pm

Sayana smiled at Orin’s genuine good will about wanting to know things were going alright between her and Aren. She also considered Orin a good friend even though much of their time together had simply been cooking related. Perhaps Orin mentally still questioned her choice about being with Aren, but then Orin and Aren hadn’t started on the best foot to begin with. As the cook discussed food, and what might help with her morning sickness she listened intently although there was obvious disappointment on her face when he suggested less spicy food. Fresh fruits and vegetables… it was springtime now and maybe some of the winter crops had come in. Except it had been a pretty cold winter and she doubted much had actually grown.

However, when he started to list off various herbs, she perked up at ones she recognized. “Sahfri said something about Delaviv and also about Midwife Miracles. I probably should have gone to her right from the start. And you said a tea of hommos?” She considered the information and made a note to visit the herbalist at Stormhold Salves.

When the cook began discussing Aren’s magic, Sayana leaned in and strained to hear his whisper. Reimancy. That’s a curious name. Summoning gusts of wind, lightning bolts, and fireballs… At first she couldn’t imagine Aren doing anything of the sort but at the mention of fire, some realization fell upon her face. The fire dancing. It hadn’t just been some clever trickery. Or maybe it was, but it was probably also combined with this ‘Reimancy’ magic. “I’ll have to ask him…” She replied slowly as she still tried to absorb this new information. “Do you think he’ll mind if he finds out that you told me? No, no. I’ll just phrase it as though I didn’t know. It seems as though you have enough on your plate in regards to him.”

Despite her curiosity, she figured she’d have much better luck asking Aren himself. Orin may or may not know the whole of it and it wouldn’t do to learn a bunch of half-truths. If Aren didn’t yield to her questions, she could always ask the cook later but she hoped she wouldn’t have to resort to that.

Once she had washed off her hands, Orin began describing the next step to the pie making. She watched as he mixed up some of the ingredients. She eyed the mixture carefully as he added some water to fix the consistency and she was curious what made him add more. Maybe it had to be a certain thickness. Or rollable. The cook got out a rolling pin and confirmed her unspoken query. She watched his demonstration carefully and took note of his instructions.

“So I’m going to leave this in all six of your incredibly capable hands. Holler if you need me.” “Will do!” Came her bright reply.

Sayana gave the bowl of dough another good stir and tried to get a sense of its consistency. She then took a large chunk of it and began rolling it with her mid hands. At first it tended to get stuck to the roller but she managed to work it out to something fairly flat. Carefully she lifted it up and put it into one of the pie plates. Where the sides and bottom met, the dough got rather fat but she carefully tried to smooth it out to look alright. At the same time she removed the extra bit of dough that went past the edges of the plate. She looked at the result for a moment and compared it to Orin’s sample. The dough was rather thick at about half an inch to a whole inch, but she shrugged it off and gave the bottom a bunch of pokes with the fork.

She managed to get the next one quite a bit thinner, and almost too thin because she had to roll it out twice due to it breaking when she tried to pick it up the first time. This time it looked much closer to Orin’s original one. After a bunch of pokes with the fork, she moved on to make another one. It was rather relaxing and the dough felt nice in her hands. Soon the bowl was empty and Sayana looked around for some ingredients to make the next batch. Had Orin used two or three of the cups of egg mix? She was pretty sure it was two. She poured the two cups into the large mixing bowl and then started looking for the flour and butter mixes that Orin had prepared. She grabbed a single bowl of that and assumed he had measured it out accordingly. Dumping it into the large mixing bowl she was met with a puff of flour that she waved away with her high hands. With a chuckle she began mixing it all together.

However, as the flour and butter got mixed in she frowned. “Orin? You know how last time you added some water? This time it looks too runny…” She picked up a spoonful of it and watched as it dribbled down like a very thick syrup. Little did she know that she had added two portions of the ‘wet’ ingredients and only one portion of the ‘dry’ ingredients.

by **Orin Fenix** on March 21st, 2015, 8:12 pm

Orin put the cinnamon and sugar together with apple slices and tossed them all together in a bowl. Finished with the apples for now, Orin set about working on the next batch of fruits and berries. He took down several pots from where they were hanging overhead. Orin also checked to see that the fires in the stove were at a good level. Satisfied that they’d do just fine for Orin’s purposes, brought two of the pots over to the baskets. Darting back and forth from the pantry, Orin took out two large bottles of sweet red wine and a bottle of red wine vinegar, as well as bottles of cream, milk, and a jar of honey. Although Orin disliked using alcohol, for these particular recipes it was a necessity. And no one could possibly get drunk off of the small amounts Orin would be cooking with.

First, Orin needed to get the cherries cooking. He threw them into a pot and added the wine and vinegar until the pot was about half-full and the cherries were covered. He placed the pot onto low heat and put a lid on it, then left it to simmer. He’d come back to it in a half-bell, and Orin flipped an hourglass over to keep track of that time. Next, Orin poured a generous portion of cream into another one of the pots. He added far smaller amounts of milk and wine, trying to keep it at three parts cream for every one part of wine and milk. His proportions were likely slightly off, since Orin wasn’t actually measuring it, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Orin added a pinch of saffron, ginger and cloves to the liquid in the pot then brought the whole mix over to the stove.

While that was coming to a boil, Orin began preparing his berries for the cream. He sliced a bunch of strawberries up and place them in one bowl and chopped up some dates to go in there as well. In another bowl, Orin threw in blueberries and dates. He was trying to make it so there was enough for two pies with each type of berry. By the time that was done, the pot had started to boil, so Orin took it off and put it on the counter next to his bowls of berries. Orin was slowly accruing stains on his apron, arms, and hands from the various flours, juices, liquids and everything else he was working with. His work was also starting to sprawl across much of the kitchen, leaving Remi and Rondo only a small area for the lunch they were preparing. Still, they should have known that this operation was going to take over pretty much everything in the kitchen.

Orin cracked four eggs into a bowl then started adding generous dollops of honey. He mixed those two together thoroughly before pouring a small portion of the liquid from the pot into the egg and honey and stirring it all together quite thoroughly. Then, it all got dumped back into the pot and Orin placed a lid over it to keep it warm, as well as moving it to part of the stove where it wouldn’t heat up, but would keep the temperature consistent.

Throughout all these preparations, as Orin went to the various locations around the kitchen, he did his best to keep up the conversation with Sayana. ”I don’t know who this Sahfri is, but I assume she knows what she’s talking about far better than I do.” It was likely some herbalist in Syliras who Orin had not yet had the pleasure of meeting. At least, based on Sayana’s comment that made the most sense. Maybe Orin should seek Sahfri out so they could trade notes. Orin didn’t know much about medicinal herbs but he bet he could give anyone a run for their money when it came to spices. Orin hadn’t missed the face Sayana had made when Orin mentioned plain foods. Perhaps there was a way to make broths and the like more tasty and still keep the stomach settled. It was probably good for Orin to have that information filed away regardless.

Orin felt a wicked smile spread across his face. He thought that he could get quite far with teasing Aren about revealing his secrets to Orin before telling the mother of his child. Still, seeing the distress on Sayana’s face, Orin hesitated. He didn’t want to be the cause of strife between the two of them if he could help it. ”You can tell him if you think he’ll be mad. I’d rather have him mad at me since we already don’t get along than have him upset with you for whatever reason.” On one of Orin’s various passes, Orin squeezed one of Sayana’s high arms, trying not to jostle or surprise her too much. Hopefully the physical support would help give her some confidence about the matter.

Orin was proud that he had made surprising inroads into the supplies before him. He’d finished the apples and had tossed them with sugar and cinnamon, both used with a light touch. And he was finished with the blueberries and the strawberries and well on his way to being done with the cherry filling. They were expensive and Orin wanted to ensure he didn’t overdo it and ruin the pie. Seeing that Sayana had managed to fill up three pie dishes with dough already, Orin laid three different types of apple inside the three prepared pies.

He was about to cover them with the top crust, but Sayana had encountered some difficulty. Walking over to where she was working, Orin saw the problem immediately. He gently nudged her out of the way so he could take over. ”Not to worry, this is easy to fix. Now, if you think the dough is too wet or two dry, here’s a tip that will help you. Just add more of the appropriate ingredients, in this case, flour and butter to thicken it, or if it’s too solid or the ingredients aren’t sticking together, more of the egg, water, and saffron. Normally it would be more of a problem since we try and conserve our food and our money but seeing as we’re using all this anyway it’s really not a big deal.” Suiting actions to words, Orin dumped some of the butter and flour from another bowl into the one Sayana had been working on, and blended it all together. He rolled out a circle of dough. ”So, after I fill them, I want you to put the top on. Since you’re already working with the dough that is. This is how you do it.” Taking the circle, Orin took it over to the first pie he had filled. He placed it over the apples. Taking the edges of the bottom, he folded them over the top slightly, and pinched and crimped them, turning the pie as he did so, until they were one whole. Picking up a knife, Orin made a few small slices, exposing the inside. ”The most important part is those slices. We need them for the steam to be able to vent.” Otherwise, Orin knew from personal experience that the pie would essentially explode and the contents would get everywhere or the filling would be terribly overcooked. Either outcome would be a disaster. Stepping back, Orin left it to Sayana as he hurried over to check on his cherries.

by **Sayana** on March 22nd, 2015, 8:09 pm

Sayana smiled at Orin’s attempt to keep things friendly between herself and Aren but frankly she didn’t think it was necessary. She doubted Aren would be mad, especially having revealed such an intimate part about himself already, and if he was mad then they had much bigger issues to worry about. Still, she rather liked Orin’s gentle squeeze on her arm and she glanced over her shoulder with a warm smile on her face.

The cook seemed well on his way doing up the various fruits and the smell of thick cherry sauce was heavenly from where it simmered over the fire. At her plea for help, Orin came over and quickly explained that it was just a matter of adding more flour and butter. As the cook demonstrated, she fought to hold her tongue. Well of course that was the obvious answer. She mentally berated herself for not thinking of it, but then realized she also didn’t know how much butter versus flour was supposed to go in. Regardless, Orin had it under control and she forced a calm smile upon her face.

However, his next instructions brought her out of her internal thoughts and she focused on what he was doing next. He rolled out another circle of dough and placed it over the filling of the pie. That looked easy enough. A bit of sealing of the dough and a few slits.

Sayana gave the bowl of dough another stir, and partly out of spite she added just a hint of water to get it to that nice consistency for rolling. The Eypharian then took a chunk and rolled it out flat into a nice circle and lifted it over to the pie. It was just a hint on the small side, so she put it back down and gave it another gentle roll or two to thin it out. This time it was the perfect size and she proceeded to pinch the edges around the perimeter so it would bake smoothly. Grabbing a knife, she made several slits and the first pie was ready for baking.

Smiling to herself she began rolling the next circle of dough. She made quick work of sealing the edges this time because it was rather straight forward and she could use all her fingers. Orin still needed more pie plates prepared before he could add the fillings, so she did a couple more of those and remembered to poke holes at the bottom with a fork. She glanced over at the cook with an amused smile. “Orin, I’ve got another few pies for you to fill,” she called to him innocently.

As he came over, she stood near him and peered over his shoulder with interest, and a little feigned interest. She slowly wrapped one of her low arms around his waist, hoping he wouldn’t jump like he did last time or at least not get too stiff within the embrace. However, her next action she did expect him to react to. Almost silently she drew one of her small throwing daggers and with her mid hand she placed the cool blade against the back of his neck. Of course, the reason she wanted a firm hold of his waist was so he wouldn’t jump and cut himself.

“So how about some dagger practice?” She whispered in his ear. “After the pies are in the oven, that is.” She quickly released him and switched the small dagger to her mid right. As if to demonstrate her skill, or just to show off, she gave it a solid throw at the kitchen door. Thunk. The blade sunk into the wood just enough to hold, and both Remi and Rondo looked up from their work with a scowl.

OOCHope I didn't overstep things too much with the last little bit. I just wanted a nice intro to their dagger practice. I also figure that since Sayana is currently much better than him, that it would be alright.

by **Orin Fenix** on March 23rd, 2015, 3:42 am

The cherries were ready for the next step of the process. Orin took them off the stove and went to get yet another bowl. Orin was quickly coming to realize a kitchen could never have too many bowls. Orin had lost track of how many he was actually using a while, simply settling for a lot. Letting the cherries cool down just a touch, Orin scooped them into the bowl from the pot. He began picking them out with his fingers and squeezing out the pits for lack of a better tool to get the job done. The pits went into a trash bucket while the slightly squished remains of the cherry went back into the bowl. Once all of the pits were removed, Orin took a spoon and properly mashed the cherries up. He added a splash of the port and touch of vinegar before putting in some ginger and sugar to spice it all up. Unfortunately, Orin hadn’t planned this out very well. This mixture would have to cook for almost another bell before the pies could be filled. Still, the oven probably wasn’t large enough to hold all the pies they had prepared. As Orin put the pot back on the stove, he did a few quick mental calculations. If he started cooking the first batch now they'd be ready to come out of the oven by the time the cherry pies were ready to go in. That would work out quite nicely.

Like a charm, Sayana called out that she had more pies ready to be filled. "Great I'll be over in a tick! Orin called. If he balanced them properly, Orin thought he could carry both bowls of berries over and the pot with the cream. Putting the blueberries in between his right elbow and his body, Orin took the strawberries in his right hand, leaving his left free to carry the cream. Walking over to Sayana Orin carefully kept it all from tipping over. And he managed to avoid dropping anything or tripping over anything as well. Feeling quite pleased with himself, Orin took a spoon and filled two pies with the strawberries and two pies with the blueberries. He had some left over and Orin decided it would be enough to make one last mixed pie. Orin spooned cream over the four he had already filled, then scooted down to work on the fifth.

However, just as he was about to put that one together, he felt an arm go around his waist. More importantly, Orin felt the tell-tale feel of a blade at his neck and he reacted instinctively to the perceived threat. Startled, Orin's arm involuntarily jerked as he tried to shove off his attacker and a dollop of cream went flying into the air. At least it wasn't boiling hot, in case someone got hit. Immediately, Orin realized that Sayana was messing with him again. He had forgotten this particular trick of Sayana's and he was sure his face was a particularly pretty shade of deep crimson right now. Orin turned to admonish Sayana for fooling around like that where someone could get hurt. However, the rebuke died on Orin's lips as Sayana threw a dagger and it flew fast and true until it embedded itself deeply into the wood of the door.

Orin's jaw dropped. "Can, can you teach me how to do that?" Orin voice came out in a not at all masculine squeak but he didn't care. He thought it was just about one of the slickest moves he'd ever seen. Orin had known that knives could be thrown of course but he’d never personally met anyone who knew the technique. Orin would love to learn and it certainly sounded as if Sayana was willing to teach him.

”But first, the pies! Very important that we actually get them into the oven before we move on to bigger and brighter things. I mean, I personally find pies very exciting but I’m starting to realize that not everyone shares my views on the world.” Orin dumped the remaining berries into a shell and poured some of the last of the cream over them. Next, Orin gathered up two of the apple pies, balancing them on his fingertips. He kicked open the oven door and leaned away as a blast of hot air and smoke came out. Bending down, Orin slid first one then the other to the back of the oven. ”Can you grab the other apple pie and one of the berry ones? After you put the top on of course.” Orin looked around at the various utensils he had laid out before finally locating the rolling pin. Grabbing it Orin rolled out and placed tops on the two strawberry and the mixed berry pie and sliced the vents. He juggled the strawberry pies over to the oven, leaving four pies, the last apple, the uncovered blueberry and the mixed berry for Sayana to deal with.

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