[ Open ] You are a Giant Redwood, Falling on a Family of Deer

[thecookery]

WHO: Avery and OPEN
WHAT: Another post-shardbearer-plot (this one) post! This one a slightly wider spread catch-all
WHEN: Late September/early October
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: Warning for grouchy, injured baker! Also, potential references to violence and torture and gore from said shardbearer plot

Kitchens

Anyone coming in for a visit or just down here passing by over these few weeks is probably going to be hearing a lot more banging and clattering and cursing than usual before they even reach the doors. Sounds which further investigation will reveal to be the sweet music of a very frustrated Avery trying to navigate the narrow spaces between counters in here sporting a sling on one arm and a crutch under the other. What with her junked-up shoulder and still heavily bandaged leg, y'know?

If they're lucky, they might even get the pleasure of seeing her fumble at doing simple tasks one-handed or knock over a tray of breadrolls with her crutch and transcend anger into a quantum state of silent fuming. The kitchen has never betrayed her like this before.


Healing Tents

Hopefully it won't be like that for too much longer though. And it's this hope that has Avery diligently visiting the healing tents at the appropriate intervals to have the progress of her wounds checked on. The shoulder, thankfully, is not so bad, as long as she makes sure to keep from moving it around too much for a while, but the leg... Well, it turns out giant, magical wolf bites don't really give a damn about magical healing. They're stubborn like that and refuse to go away on anyone's schedule but their own!


Stables

During those moments when Avery doesn't have reason to visit the healing tents but has been shooed out of the kitchen to do this thing called... relaxing? (She thinks she might have heard of it once, but she really has no idea what such a strange and foreign concept could truly be. It sounds like a trap.) She usually wanders down to the stables to check in with some of her favorite horses and maybe have a go at brushing out their manes and tails while she's at it. Hopefully without being disturbed by anyone, but everyone knows how likely that is to work out for her.


Training Grounds

Though lately she's been spending a little time watching the soldiers train as well. She's not a terrible fighter herself, but most of what she knows is about how to make your average bully or mugger eat their own teeth. If she'd had real battle training like these people, would things have gone differently on that last mission? She can't help but wonder about it as she silently observes.

Comments

[thecookery]

Avery shrugs. "Maybe. Depends on how much he's whinging. I've a lot more sympathy for injured men when they're quiet about it."

She stops and tilts her head slightly, pondering, "Actually, I have more patience for men in general when they're not talking."

[aceso]

Christine exhales a laugh. It's often been her opinion that some men just shouldn't speak because they never have anything worth saying. And then there are men like Church, who use two hundred words when he could have gotten his point across in twenty. At least he eventually has something worth saying, and he's been very good to her lately as she deals with her grief.

"I have found that to be the case as well. Oh well. At least we can quiet them with meat pie, yes?"

[thecookery]

"I hope so," she answers with a wry look. "Otherwise, what's the point?"

[aceso]

"Well, I would enjoy the food, if nothing else." She wipes off her hands, now finished. "There; will that suit your needs?"

[thecookery]

Avery looks the work over a moment and just says, "It'll do," because she's very good at giving compliments like that. Then she pauses briefly, makes a slightly chagrined face, and looks down at her hands.

"Thanks."

[aceso]

Christine looks back at her work (which she thinks is perfect, thank you very much) before returning her gaze to Avery.

"Of course. Would you like help filling it and putting it in the oven?" If not, she can head out now and let Avery get to it. But it just seems like a bad idea to try and get such a large pie into the oven with only one arm.

[thecookery]

She hesitates a moment, still having trouble asking for help, but she manages an, "If you want to," after a moment. "There's still a bit to go before it's put in, but if you help me get these potatoes in that pot of water to boil for a few minutes, I'll show you how to mix the gravy, and then we can put it all together."

[aceso]

"All right." It's easy enough to do and she does so without comment since it must be frustrating to be injured in the ways Avery is. But now the gravy. She's an Orlesian about to make gravy. Surely there is something wrong with this picture. But she'll do it because people need to eat.

[thecookery]

"Good. Now, uh..." She moves over to the pot the meat has been cooking in, using a hand-towel to grab one side of it. "Help me move this off the heat for now. We'll need to scoop a good bit of the juice in here to a bowl and let it sit for a minute. The fat'll come up to the top, and then we'll use that to start making the roux."

See? That last bit even sounds Orlesian! Maybe there is common ground to be found here after all.

[aceso]

Perhaps so! Christine wraps the other end of the towel around the handle and helps Avery move it aside before moving to get a ladle for the juice. She sets it down to fetch the bowl next, bringing that close to Avery so she can do it. She has a feeling Avery still wants to be involved with the process where she can.

"A roux is a fat and flour, then milk, yes?"

[thecookery]

The smile Avery gives is small and wry, but it does exist. She feels a little like she's being humored, but honestly, doing nothing does make her feel antsy, so it's sort of appreciated.

Ladling out the liquid from the pot, she answers, "Sometimes. Now though, instead of milk, we'll just use the rest of the broth in the bowl, see?"

[aceso]

"Hmm," she says, looking between the pot and bowl. "Then this step is so you can mix in the flour separately? There would be bits of dry flour if you simply put it in with everything." She's learning something here. And she does so enjoy following recipes exactly in order to come out with something perfect, but that's because she's an absolute perfectionist.

[thecookery]

"Exactly," Avery confirms as she finishes that and slowly steps over to fetch a frying pan and then a whisk. "Some people aren't worried about clumps, so they just mix it right in, but I like doing things well if I'm to do them at all. Don't you?"

Pausing a moment, she holds out the whisk in Christine's direction. "Like to do the honors?"

[aceso]

"Yes," she answers right away. "I want things done the correct way. Otherwise, why bother?" She takes the whisk and gets to work, focusing on the lumps and trying to get them smoothed out. After it looks nice and smooth, she nods in satisfaction.

"Like this?"

[thecookery]

Avery gives her another small smile. "That's the idea."

She fetches the rest of the broth and steps in close, explaining, "You keep whisking, and I'll slowly add this in. Once it's all mixed, we'll just pour it back in the pot with the beef and put it on heat again just long enough for the gravy to thicken. Then it's ready to go in the pie."

[aceso]

Christine nods, ready to whisk like a champion. Only not the Champion of Kirkwall. That woman was an idiot to let Anders live. But her whisking is top notch! She gets the gravy nice and smooth before pouring it back into the pot. Then she grabs her side with the towel again, ready to move it and giving Avery a nod to let her know as much.

[thecookery]

Hey, for all they know, the Champion of Kirkwall could've been an amazing whisker! Whatever their thoughts on certain less than ideal decisions she made, it's not nice to make assumptions about a person's ability to whip up some cream or a nice meringue.

In any case, once they've transferred the pot back onto the heat, the two of them have a little time just to wait, so Avery leans back against the counter and wipes the sweat from her brow with a sleeve. "So what do you think of it so far?" she asks casually. "Cooking like a Fereldan?"

[aceso]

At that comparison, Christine can't help but look mildly horrified.

"I would never live it down. I must deny all involvement." She pauses to cross her arms, a thoughtful look on her face. "At least around Sam. He would tease me mercilessly and I will having nothing to use back on him." Because that is their relationship. They tease each other about their countries and yet there's no one here she'd count as a brother except for him.

[thecookery]

"Ouch," Avery responds with a small smirk. "I'm hurt. Really."

[aceso]

"One thing I have learned about Fereldans," Christine says, with the voice of someone who knows. "Is that no words can hurt them. That is why Sam still puts up with me." A hardy group of people. Not surprising they came from the Avvar.

"Well, this appears to be thickening now," she adds, dipping in a spoon and watching how the gravy coats the back. "Shall we get this in to bake?"

[thecookery]

She snorts a little at Christine's "observation" but says nothing, just shifting back close to the pot again.

After a moment to briefly check the contents herself, she answers, "Sure," with a nod. "Grab the crusts. Most of this'll go on bottom, then the potatoes, then what's left of the gravy on top of those. And you'll have made your first meat pie."

[aceso]

She nods and puts the crusts close by before getting ready to pour.

"It was simple. Usually I consult a recipe book."

[thecookery]

"Aye, well, most of what I know I learnt this way," Avery explains as they begin putting these pies together finally. "I was only taught my letters just enough not to get a shopping list too confused, yeah?"

[aceso]

"In the Circle, pretty much the only thing we were allowed to do was read." She helps to pour and smooth out the filling so it's not all in one spot.

"I will put these in for you. They are probably heavy."

[thecookery]

"Sounds like a nightmare," she says, trying to keep her tone casual. Calling the Circle a touchy subject for most people would be a bit of an understatement.

And though a part of her once again rebels at the idea of admitting her weakness, Avery manages to keep it mostly under control and just mumbles, "Thanks."