chikaidestroyer | ∞ 69: After the first heavy snowfall [written/action]

Introductions, I suppose. I haven't written one in quite awhile. My name is Albert Silverberg, and I have been a resident in Luceti for over two years now. A welcome to our New Feathers; here's hoping the welcome center and other residents make captivity as hospitable as possible.

Blue Rogues, please keep an eye out for the abducted and any stragglers from this month's New Feather cycle. The snow may make it especially difficult to traverse the forest.

I suggest everyone take heed of this amount of snowfall and prepare accordingly. Extra blankets, warmer clothing, stockpiling in case of a blizzard. The weather hasn't been this cold in the past to warrant snow this early. Long-time residents may recall that we had great amounts of rain around this time in the past two years -- enough to affect the terrain with floods and severe erosion.

I was told that there was a young lady who would customize jewelry. I would like to speak with her if possible.

[Filtered to Guy]

Perhaps we should resume our conversation in person. Will you be in the bar today?

[/filtered]

[Off-journal means of communication to Yuber]

[vaguely amused] Did I forget to mention your powers would be reduced in captivity? How careless of me.

[action]

[One may find Albert outside of house 42 if they are looking for him. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he's shoveling snow now that the snowfall has stopped.]

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[Albert spends some time dusting any stray bits of snow from his coat and scarf, as well as kicking excess snow off of his shoes before trading them for house slippers. He'll also check on the fireplace before going anywhere else in the house.]

[The fire's probably gotten pretty low since Raine last left the room, so that makes sense. Potatoes, celery, carrots... maybe an onion then, and that preparation will be done.]

[Time to get the firewood then. Albert gathers some firewood from the foyer closet, poking for some life in the dying fire as he puts a few more logs onto it. ...Bah, let's cheat a little and ask for Eferin's help. It's not as if it will hurt.]

[Not really. This season will probably require calling on his help for a lot of instances, besides. Raine finishes up with the onion and frowns thoughtfully at the vegetables. A pot's been sitting ready on the stove, but she hasn't decided quite what to do with them.]

[Once he's finished, Albert heads into the kitchen. He nods at Raine in greeting, brushing any stray splinters from his gloves.]

[She looks up when he enters, and nods to him in return.] I'm sorry that dinner isn't ready yet; I got started a little later than I intended. I thought it might be best if we had some sort of stew that could last us a few days.

[That would be a good idea if you don't get creative with the dish.] It's fine. There's no rush.

[There aren't even any lemons set out. But the lack of anything 'creative' probably reflects her mood. Of course, intervention is probably necessary regardless.] The vegetables are prepared; I just need to get the meat and broth.

[Some people get 'creative' when they're depressed. In that whatever's around ends up in the meal. Hmmm.] What were you planning to use for broth?

I was just going to flavor the water with the meat before adding the vegetables... maybe use flour to thicken it. [And maybe a little of this, a little of that.]

Flavor the water with the meat...? With flour? [He's familiar with how stock is made, but he's never heard of it being referred to as "flavoring the water." It was a matter of making meat or vegetable stock.]

[She's not a master chef, okay?]

Is that incorrect?

I believe you will need to explain what you mean by "flavor the water." I'm not familiar with the term. You may just be explaining something in a different way than I'm used to.

Water is just ordinary water when it starts out, isn't it? It would acquire a flavor after the meat is added.

That's right. But how do you intend to acquire that flavor?

By... stewing the meat, of course. And perhaps adding some form of spice, to kick it up a notch. And a little flour, for substance... it works in gravy, doesn't it?

There's terminology I'm familiar with. "Flavoring the water" has a very different connotation than "stewing the meat."

Oh... I see. In any case, I was just going to get started with that part.

I see. I'll leave you to it, then. [It's a pretty simple process, after all.]

It shouldn't take very long.

...If you're going to stew the meat, it will. [Water's gotta boil, gotta wait for the meat to cook through... Yeah. Hopefully he won't bite into something undercooked tonight.]

Perhaps you might be a more... accurate judge of when that is, then. [Because the point was to have it last... not get disposed of immediately.]

You have to boil the water with the meat to ... draw out the flavor. [He supposes he'll meet Raine halfway with the terminology.] So cooking the stew will take awhile.

... Oh.

I suppose I should have started it much earlier, then.