Salty Smell in the Kitchen [Canali]

[Nathan Longstride]

38th day of Fall, 511 AV Nathan didn't quite know how he had learned of this rare chance. While wandering Mura, the teenager had heard of this woman offering a cooking lesson for visitors here for the Pumpkin Festival. Any who wanted to learn a native recipe only had to visit her home on the shore. And it only took a few questions for Nathan to have a hot face and directions to this woman's house. It seemed she did this often for visitors, and most women on the island knew who this woman was. The women Nathan had visited giggled when he turned to leave. It seemed this woman often offered lessons to the female visitors to the island. Not many men took it up, and they had thought it was funny. But Nathan wasn't going to turn it up. He wished to learn a new recipe to try, even if this was the only time ever he had to eat it. Just the knowledge of a native recipe that others didn't know was good enough to Nathan. This was how he often was, always wishing to know more than others. It was always a desire of his, and this was his chance to one up people on his ship. Not that Sag knew much about cooking, even though he was the chef on the ship. Even with the job and years of experience, Sag's food tasted horrible. And maybe Nathan could try this food at sea. Who would know. So as Nathan stepped off of the well-worn path that led to the woman's home, he admired her small home. The hut was well made with a porch and a garden in the back. Nathan straightened his dark blue doublet, making sure his clothing wasn't dirty. His boots he cared little for, and his black breeches didn't matter much. But Nathan didn't want to look like a slob with a dirty vest and undershirt. And he hoped she didn't freak out when she noticed the two daggers stuck in his pockets. He wasn't going to use either of them. Stepping up to the door, Nathan knocked on the door. All he could do was wait, and wonder if anyone else heard the call of his woman. Would anyone else show up to learn from the Konti?

[Canali]

How could one island have so many fragile, pacifistic creatures in harmony? Though she had yet to learn about their gifts, Canali suspected the Konti had something completely separate from humans making them up. Perhaps tears of a god. Then again, she was new to the place so perhaps she seemed as exotic to them as them to her? Happy in that conclusion, Canali stopped walking to peer at the seasonings in a store. Cinnamon, black pepper, lemon pepper… "How can I help you?" echoed next to Canali's ear. Jumping a foot in the air and whirling, she turned to face the intruder with one hand over her thumping heart. "Oh, geesh, did I scare you? I'm so sorry." The woman truly was. Warily eyeing the lady before her with white hair and gorgeous blue eyes, Canali nodded. The startler was obviously a store clerk judging from the apron she wore and how she appeared so ready to help and serve. "I was just looking for a few new spices," Canali informed her, then hesitated before mentally shrugging. For some reason, this place made her want to speak freely. "As you can most likely tell, I'm a visitor. I hail from a place called Sunberth." Canali's nose wrinkled. Compared to Mura, the place was a living hell. "I wanted to see if you had any different spices than we do." Canali had found most of her own spices from the market, which were imports by merchants. Though she had a wide variety, Canali had still found a few Mura had which Sunberth didn't. Making a mental note to come back later, she let herself be gobbled up in the conversation. "Ah, yes. That is a, uh, very friendly place, I hear," the woman's melodious voice was dry with humor. Canali's lips twitched upwards. "I take it you cook, then?" At Canali's nod, the storekeeper's blue eyes lit up with something akin to excitement. "A woman down by the shore, she offers cooking lessons every now and then. If you want to take something back with you when you leave, go seek her out. She's not hard to miss. Just follow the worn path. Tell her a spice-seller sent you. She'll know who." A quick glance around and the woman spotted someone else entering. Unconsciously lowering her voice, she sent a hand shooing towards the door. "Go on, she doesn't wait long after starting for stragglers." Politely thanking the woman, Canali did as she was told. The path was easy to find. It was worn down by the number of uses. As she walked, Canali thought back to Sunberth. She was sure Essik, or the gang, would enjoy a new recipe. Especially an exotic, rare one. Lips uplifting in a smile, she glanced ahead to see the man standing near an adorable hut. Obviously he was here for a lesson, also. Feet picking up the pace, she called out with a bit of teasing, "I haven't seen a male chef since… Never. You cook?" Surprise coated her words, along with laughter. Not at him, just in general. Reaching his side, Canali held out her right hand to shake his. "I'm Canali. Were you directed by the Konti, also, to here?"

[Nathan Longstride]

Nathan could hear the slight footfalls on the dirt path behind him and he turned to see a woman walking up to the hut. And not just any woman, but a woman with dark hair! Nathan was so glad he nearly ran out to meet her. It wasn't like he knew her. But dark hair meant a non-Konti. Which meant this woman came on the island visiting. Which possibly meant that men came with her. It was a far-fetched assumption but Nathan made it anyway. He had been on the island for eight days and had seen barely any men. Not that he wanted to too much. He was just deprived of anyone who didn't have dark hair. The woman made a wry remark as she stepped onto the porch about never meeting a male chef. Nathan's face reddened slightly, enough for the woman to notice him blushing. Why did she have to assume he was a cook right off the back. He could've been a merchant visiting a friend he had made in earlier visits. Maybe she could even think he was a thief waiting patiently outside the woman's house. Anything but what he was. How could Nathan help it if he cooked to survive. Which was a lie, but it made sense to him anyhow. But Nathan smiled back, knowing this woman was only joking. It wasn't like she wanted to mess with him. Plus she didn't know about him like so many other women did. She didn't know what he had already done on the island. She was new to him and he was new to her. Looking at her, he answered. "I wouldn't call myself a chef, but I do cook from time to time. I don't have a woman to slave over my meals like other men." Nathan did, but he moved out of his parent's home a while ago. And he wasn't going to just tell her that. It would've been stupid to make him any more wimpish by telling her his mother cooked for him up to the last year. Men were suppose to be tough, and like Nathan realized, this woman didn't know him. So better to play to tough man than the real Nathan. The woman introduced herself as Canali, and asked if he was directed her by the Konti. Who else would tell him about this secluded spot? Besides one person, Nathan was sure no one else besides Konti could tell him about this hut. But Nathan wasn't going to tell her she had asked a stupid question she should've already known. Women were naturally ignorant of things, but Nathan knew for a fact they didn't like to be reminded. Personal experience for the win! "Aye, the Konti pointed me in this direction. Name's Nathan. Nathan Longstride." With a little formality at the end, Nathan made a slight bow as the door opened and a short woman stepped out. "Welcome to my home. My name is Nira." Nira was a short woman with blond hair that fell to her shoulders with only one braid tucked behind her right ear. If Canali had paid attention in her short time on the island, both would notice the woman's weathered face. A face of one who had lived for a long time. But they would never know exactly how old until they learned. And when they learned about how Nira had lived for over a hundred years, they would probably be shocked. "Please come on in." Releasing the apron she was holding that was around her waist, she gestured for them to step in. Nathan stepped, moving his left hand towards the door. It was easy for Canali to understand. Ladies first.

You can go on and describe the interior if you'd like in your next post.

[Canali]

Something about the way Nathan mentioned having a woman to slave over his meals inkled Canali. She couldn't say what, but her mind flashed back to her father, another Nathan. Canali's mother had died in childbirth and, while they lived on the streets often, Nathan and a smaller version of the older Canali, didn't have a woman to cook their meals. Perhaps this man and her father had something in common? A slow glance over Nathan chased the idea away. Her father had been a strong man, both physically and mentally. Stubborn and stuck in his ways, some might say. The older man had had a husky laugh and used it often -- and loudly.. Though he liked to say trouble followed him, Canali's father had invited trouble within his imaginary home once he began to sell drugs. Nathan had tried his hardest to raise Canali right and the results were still questionable. This might have been because Nathan was killed before Canali's storm grey eyes when she was only fifteen years young, or even because she grew up in a place called Sunberth. The man standing before her, though, was different. Instead of a dark brown with grey touching the sides of his temples, he had a sandy brown hair. Instead of a wiry frame, this Nathan seemed average. Canali's father was truthful to a fault, even plainly blunt, but the man standing outside of the house seemed manipulative and a liar. Canali couldn't say what had brought this thought to her mind, but the tags seemed to fit just right. The man on the doorstep seemed arrogant while ashamed of being caught at a cook's home. When the thought hit her that this man, just like so many others, was against women doing a man's job and men doing a woman's job, Canali's eyes narrowed just a touch before she reprimanded herself. She didn't know that was certain. It was extremely rude to jump to conclusions about strangers. Assumptions didn't make friends. Casually sliding the hand Nathan had totally ignored back down to her side, Canali nodded at Nathan's name. The door opened within moments afterwards, saving Canali the embarrassment of trying to figure out the right response to a bow. The woman was gorgeous in an older way. Her golden hair was shiny and the wrinkles which played hide and seek with her face, were beautiful. Canali could only hope to age as well. Canali brushed past Nathan, her pants swishing at her ankles. She sought to test her earlier theory about the belief of women and men having certain places. The thought seemed like a burr under the saddle to her. The lesson the Konti would teach them would cement Canali's opinion of this newest Nathan, she decided. His reactions and expressions would be tested and she would observe him to see how he handled a "woman's job". Then again, he could have just been gay. Thinking about it, rolling the idea in her head like a ball of dough, Canali decided that was it. He claimed he didn't have a woman to slave over his meals like other men, but yet he was learning to cook instead of eating at a tavern or inn. If he so obviously believed a woman's place was in the kitchen, perhaps he fancied himself the woman half of a two male relationship? Canali hadn't seen Nathan's eyes wander from her face and so far she yet to meet a man who didn't try to steal a free look. Nathan didn't look like the tough men she had seen before and grown up around, also. Mentally accepting the idea, Canali decided Nathan was obviously learning to cook to please a man. Canali's lips twisted at the possibility. How adorable.

[Nathan Longstride]

If only the gnosis mark on Nathan's forearm provided him the insight on the complex puzzle known as the woman's inner mind. Not that Canali's thoughts were what Nathan needed to hear at this moment. How bad would it be if Nathan commited murder on this nice woman's porch from the conclusion this ignorant woman came up with. And Nathan might just do so, or at least try, if he learned this woman considered him a homosexual. If Nathan ever did learn, he probably would carve his name in her back with his dagger while fondling her bosom in the other hand to prove that he was on the straight path. And if he ever learned she was giving up a child, Nathan would never let her live it down. She would forever be known as deserter, and Nathan would make this day the worst in her life. Why? Because women irked his nerves. The saying went "Can't live with them, Can't live without them" and Nathan lived by that motto. But if he knew what this woman assumed, he was sure he could tweak it to where she never lived in it. But Nathan didn't know any of this, so he followed Canali into Nira's home. The sitting area was simple although the sitting chairs were rather ornate as most things were in Mura. The kitchen was connected to the sitting room with only a bar-type seating area acting as a wall. Ingredients were on a table situated in the center of the kitchen, but Nathan watched Nira at the moment. Just staring at the ingredients sitting out there wasn't going to help him figure out the dish they were making. It could be a native dish and Nathan didn't want to look ignorant guessing what they were making and then getting it completely wrong. He left that for Canal if she wished to prove just what she knew. Because if Nathan knew her thoughts, he'd know this woman wasn't what you called bright. "Now, before we begin, I have a small fee of two gold miza for students to pay for the excess ingredients to these lessons. It covers the ingredients since it seems neither of you have any on you. And even if you do, you don't need it anyway. So once you pay we shall begin." The smile Nira put on was what women were trained to do from birth. It was meant for men as a way to get whatever you desired. But did it work on women? Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out two gold miza from his pouch resting in one of his pockets. Setting them on the table, Nathan waited for Canali to do the same. And if she turned to be as poor as she was ignorant, Nathan would spot for her. Because he didn't know exactly what this woman thought of him. And once again, that was a good thing.

The money is just to cover the ingredients so we don't have to go out and buy them. It is also a stall so I can ask Cachet for the variety of food on Mura and to choose what we're going to cook.