Closed An Afternoon at Home

[Khida]

Fall 26, 514 AV
afternoon

It had been a long time since she last skinned a rabbit. Long enough... long enough that this context, the blade in her hand, the fur beneath her fingers, roused vague memories of things not found in the Sea at all. Buildings of yellow stone, the scents of sand and ocean and Eypharian perfumes, the cadences of conversations in languages she never learned to speak. The feel of her sire's steady hands. The sound of his gruff voice.

Khida had not thought of that former home in seasons. Years.

But in truth, it wasn't relevant to her now.

Taking a firm grip on the carcass, she focused on that now -- on the lambent gold of afternoon sunlight, the crackle of fire in its cleared-earth pit, the task immediately before her. Skin the rabbit. That started with... a ring around each knee, a cut up the legs. Then she could just work her fingers beneath the thin hide and pull towards the head. Khida put thought to action, tugging at the rabbit fur until the hide peeled loose. It came easily enough --

-- but she forgot to account for the tail. With the alacrity common to mishaps, the hide tore in her hands, a ragged piece coming free. No matter; she'd just keep going. Khida worked her way down towards the head of the carcass, pulling off the pelt in pieces large and small, depositing them in a pile to one side. The process left her hands feeling sticky; she paused to rinse them off before moving on. This particular rabbit, after all, was destined for soup -- and soup took other ingredients, too.

She had those all set out to one side -- leaves from something called goosefoot, roots from things called hopniss and yampah. They lay on the earth nearby, waiting to be washed and prepared. The pot itself sat beside the fire, still empty.

She needed more water.

Khida clambered up to her feet, grabbing the pot and heading for the rill the hunter had chosen to camp beside. Its burble, the dry grass crunching beneath her feet, and a quiet rustle of canvas in wind were the only sounds to come from the camp; she had it all to herself.

Well, herself and Kabek, but he was preoccupied with his sunbathing. Or perhaps just sleeping. The young feline would only be a concern if he decided to come looking for a snack.

ledgercooking pot, 2 gal., glazed -- 5 sm
cooking spoon -- 2 sm
bowl, 16 oz, glazed -- 3 cm
soup spoon -- 1 cm
vegetables, common, 2 lbs -- 7 sm

total: -14 sm, 4 cm

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

Rue was excited, and not entirely without reason. Her birthday was fast approaching, and she had finally purchased herself a new, less rugged set of clothing for her everyday wear. It was an early present, but a much needed one, and she had found something for Shahar as well.

Shopping, for Rue, tended towards purchasing for others, so after what seemed like entirely too much money spent of herself she had wandered through the market with little intent to actually spend anything more. However when she stopped to peek into a weapon smith's shop, she found herself unable to leave without a purchase.

A beautifully crafted knife with a handle of blue stained wood caught her eye. The blade was thin and flexible, but the shopkeeper assured her it would serve its owner well, holding an edge and with a handle sealed with something or other to prevent damage.

Rue didn't know enough about knives to know whether or not it was true, but it was pretty, and she thought it might be useful for hunting. So for a few Miza she had bought the knife and given herself a reason to seek out Shahar.

So it was with this purpose in mind that she found herself approaching Shahar's camp. Grass rustled at her feet as she took a path not yet well tread, announcing her arrival.

The form that greeted her there was not the one she expected. In fact she was quite surprised to find that she recognized the unexpected shape in the middle of the camp.

"Khida?"

[Khida]

Water ran into the pot -- no, trickled, for the creek was still only a meager flow. Clearly, it would take altogether too many ticks to reach the level she wanted. But there was nothing to do for it but wait. Wait, and watch, and listen.

Surprisingly enough, there was something to listen to. A rustling in the grass, measured and even, something approaching with casual confidence. Something probably two-legged, probably human. Especially given that it approached from the city. Not many others came to the camp, but every now and again someone did; perhaps it was that girl again.

Hefting the pot up, Khida returned to the firepit, pausing a moment to examine its state. A smattering of thin gold flames danced among ash-covered coals; it radiated a gentle warmth rather than ferocious heat. It seemed reasonable enough to put the pot in among the coals and let them heat the water, so she did.

She would have gone on to address the issue of vegetables, but for the sound of her name rising above the background susurrus. The Kelvic woman turned to see a familiar face which matched the surprisingly familiar voice -- not the person she had expected to be coming here. Yes come sit stay, she signed, a perhaps curiously strong warmth, welcome inflecting the gestures and infusing her posture.

"You here... to work? For friends?" Khida asked, reflecting on the last person and her errand. She couldn't think what the clothing-maker would want out in the Sea, if it was business like the other girl's -- but then, she didn't know much of anything about clothing-making, either.

Even as Khida finished the query, she turned back to her task, collecting up the armload of vegetables and carrying them to the creek. Which was not to say she ignored Rue, keeping one ear and half an eye towards the Drykas all the while. But hostess material, the Kelvic was definitely not.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

It was, indeed, Khida who turned to greet her, offering her a seat in the camp. A great warmth and welcome shaped the words of the other woman, surprising Rue with how at home she seemed in the space. It was as though it was her own home she welcomed Rue into. She stopped a moment to consider the path of her thoughts there, denying for a moment the conclusion she came to.

She reeled for a moment, considering that possible situation, and almost took the offered seat. Khida in Shahar's camp, comfortable, at home, it was not something she had ever imagined.

It was the next question and the subsequent movement that finally spurred Rue into action as she moved forward to help Khida with her task, putting aside for the moment the surprise at the situation. "I was hoping to find Shahar," She paused a moment, her mind lingering on the question of whether Khida was his wife and whether or not her gift to Shahar might upset her, "But if he is not here, I still have found good company."

She had before considered the possibility that Shahar could be married, and it wasn't the possibility that had shocked her, it was finding that a woman she considered a friend filled the position.

The surprise only mildly tinted her words as she attempted to quickly put such things aside in hopes of seeming rather more prepared for the whole thing, or at least not so shocked as to be offensive.

Khida had returned to her task, cooking something, maybe stew, and so Rue stepped forward, towards her with a gesture of offering help. "What are you making?"

[Khida]

The red-haired girl promptly ignored the instruction to sit. She came forward to join Khida instead, briefly outlining her purpose -- and her pleasure at finding the Kelvic here. If she also displayed surprise -- well, Khida had been surprised to see the girl, too. "He... to be" apology not here, she signed, gestures quickly filling in for the spoken words that deserted her memory. But that apology, she considered, could be taken as an apology from her. "He will be sorry he missed you," Khida elaborated more fluidly in her native language.

She was quite certain on that point, and did not think to question why.

The girl offered assistance, both by unspoken action and, eventually, by overt gesture. "Soup ," she answered plainly. Khida divided the root vegetables -- hopniss and yampah -- more or less in half, extending one bunch to Rue. "Water this?" she asked, returning to Pavi.

After Rue took the roots, Khida knelt down by the rill with her own bunch. It wasn't all that deep, so she cupped up water and used it to scrub the dirt from the roots. They weren't too bad, all told -- the vendor had removed the worst of it before ever putting them out for sale. The hopniss tubers were a little longer than her thumb, and a little thicker, with brownish skin and ovoid shape. They proved quite easy to clean. The yampah, however, were crooked and tapering, something like undersized carrots. They required more scrubbing, for all that they weren't all that much longer than the hopniss. It was all the twists and crooks.

Small as the various roots were, Khida decided, as she washed them, that she could probably get away without cutting them up so much. The thinner yampah could just be snapped in two, and the hopniss cut in half, or maybe quarters. Once they had both finished with the washing, she headed back over towards the firepit, peeking in at the water. It was starting to steam a bit, but not yet so far as boiling. Still, she could add the roots.

Khida set the roots down, separating them by type, and looked over to Rue... only to find that words failed her yet again. She still had so much Pavi to learn. "I will just split these," she told Rue, suiting actions to words by snapping one of the yampah and dropping it in. "And these... I will cut in half," she resolved, drawing a line with her fingernail down the length of the fatter hopniss tuber.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

The details of Khida's common were lost, but the big words were there Sorry missed you was obviously not in reference to Khida, so it must have been Shahar, an oddly pleasing prospect to think he wanted to see her.

The reply was not unexpected, soup, and Khida seemed to be happy to divide the burden of cooking with Rue.

'Water this?' The request was only slightly broken, so Rue gently offered her the word "Wash" and shaped a gentle sign of no harm, helping with hope to not seem rude in her correction.

All the same, she took the bundle of roots and faced the rill. Finding the water too shallow, Rue watched for a moment, both Khida's method of washing and the flowing of the water. What they needed was a cup of water that didn't occupy one of their hands while they tried to wash.

A few rocks edging from the bank into the relatively deeper water and a couple more on top of those made a slight difference in the depth, enough to help her wash, but not quite an effective dam. There was something missing from her construction, but it wasn't important enough in the moment to be concerned about.

The round brownish roots were familiar to Rue in a visual way, but the flavor and the name escaped her. Not that it mattered while she cleaned them, but it put a mild frown on her face. The yampah was immediately familiar to her as the curving, hard to clean root was the one she often had to chop so carefully at home. So it was a bit of a surprise to Rue when, a bit belatedly, she joined Khida at the fire to find she wished only to half the yampah by breaking it.

She didn't imagine for a moment it was her place to challenge the methods of cooking Khida chose, so instead she nodded and followed her direction. "Split" Rue questioned the unfamiliar use of the common word, her previous use of it being more similar to share than to the breaking of the vegetables, "You used it differently from the way I would have thought? What does it mean? It is not share?" The question did not halt her hands, nor did it stop her from running out of yampah. She didn't think she could break the thicker root nicely, so she searched briefly for a knife before drawing her own from where it sat at her hip.

She halved the smaller tubers, and then with a glance at Khida for silent answers, cut once again the halves of tuber to keep them from being too large.

"How will you season the water?" Rue asked, gazing at the not quite boiling pot with a mildly skeptical eye.

[Khida]

Wash, the red-haired girl supplied, and Khida tucked away the new word into her small -- but growing! -- vocabulary. The girl's no harm passed without response; she didn't really know what to say, and it didn't seem important enough to dwell upon.

She went on to move rocks around in the water, forcing the rill to form a bit of a pool. It helped her with the washing, at least a little, although Khida wasn't sure the gain was worth the concern. In any case, all the vegetables were washed in the end. They returned to the firepit, and to their own tasks of making small vegetables smaller. Along the way, the girl went on to ask questions about her usage of split. Split, and also share, a word Khida picked out well enough.

"To split is... to... to make one into more," Khida explained, talking her way through the connotations slowly. She herself didn't usually dwell on the fine points of difference. The Kelvic also demonstrated as she spoke, snapping the next thin little yampah root into four pieces. "To share..." She held half of them out to Rue, letting the action do the explaining.

They continued to parcel up the vegetables, Khida reclaiming her own knife and tackling her own handful of hopniss tubers. After a little while, the Kelvic noticed the girl's attention drift towards the pot. Her own curiosity was pre-empted by the girl's question. Season it? She waved at the pile of goosefoot leaves, and at the skinned rabbit waiting to be cut apart. That really seemed to be all she intended to add to the pot, today.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

Rue eyed the additives in question, then wrinkled her brow in thought. No more? Rue signed, a slight pondering concern tinting the movements of her hands.

Rue could think of a number of soup spices off the top of her head that would offer flavor to compliment the rabbit. Though she considered for a long moment whether it was her place to offer the ideas to Khida. It was certainly more proper not to challenge her methods, but she thought Khida might be more likely to appreciate the information rather than to take offense.

"Sometimes, spices and herbs can add more to a soup, like the rabbit will change the flavor. Would you like me to show you?"

She gave a quick glance around the camp, but couldn't spot anything within the small space. There were quite a few different herbs that grew rampantly in the sea of grass, and even this late in the season it was possible that she could find some within a few minutes hike of the camp.

"My family has been teaching me to cook. Herbs and spices have been really important in creating food that my family would find pleasing." The words were an offering to do the same, offering the hints and tips she had gathered from her sister in the cooking lessons she had been given.

[Khida]

oocI actually had this half-written already... so I managed to finish it on the bus.

The red-haired girl seemed not to approve of Khida's cooking, if her expression was any indication. Her signed query only strengthened that impression. Khida merely canted her head and blinked at the girl, unfazed; she didn't need her approval. But she waited, somewhat curious, for the other to finish her contemplation and follow through on the subject. If she was going to.

Eventually, she did. The way the girl spoke, the care with which she seemed to be choosing her words, struck Khida as odd for a reason the Kelvic could not quite name. There seemed to be something in the statements, some further context, that she just didn't quite grasp. She mulled over it briefly, a hint of puzzlement shading her demeanor. But Khida also shook it off in short order, putting aside the mystery in favor of the piece which was plain and clear.

She recognized that word, even in Pavi. Did she want to learn about herbs? Sure, is good, Khida signed, her motion and manner entirely casual. First is finish work followed, elaborated upon with a motion towards the rabbit carcass. She couldn't walk away and leave that out; one or another feline would appropriate it the moment she was out of sight.

Then they'd be having stew without rabbit.

She took a few chimes to finagle the meat from its bones, taking it off in shreds and strips and the occasional chunk. Some, Khida paused to cut into smaller pieces, so that most would be of similar weight... although they had all kinds of different shapes. Then she plopped the pieces into the simmering water, stirring it all about. At the last, Khida collected up the bones and offal and moved them towards the outskirts of the camp -- an action regarded with avid interest by the nearest of the cats.

She paused to wash off her hands, then returned her attention to Rue. Now we go.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

Rue watched as Khida cut away the flesh from the bones with entirely more skill than Rue herself would have managed, her skills with a knife were more likely to end in scars rather than results - in the kitchen anyway.

She seemed far less concerned than Rue about the entire affair, in fact she made the work seem like something easy rather than a terrible chore. It was a curious experience for Rue to see such a thing.

Rue followed Khida to the edge of the camp, eyeing what appeared to be hunting cats that would be more than happy to clean up the deposited waste from the meal-to-be.

"It should be easy enough to find sage." Rue informed her rather simply, the hardy scrub brush often was difficult to be rid of once it set its roots. "If we are lucky, we might find some fireweed or chicory nearby." Rue was vaguely aware that Khida might not know the plants she spoke of by name, but she didn't have the words to explain them in common, and she figured once they found them, it would make everything easier.

She turned her gaze to the ground, searching through the grasses for the plants that she often found when she wandered with Wildfire.

"My family makes the children responsible for finding edible plants, the eldest of the bunch teaching and supervising." She considered a moment before explaining, "They watch out for poisonous plants that look like the safe ones, and show their siblings the difference." She continued to search while she spoke, parting longer grass with a foot or a hand when she needed to. "It made us feel important when we were too little to be much help elsewhere, and it is useful as an adult to know."

The memories of trips to gather plants were fond, and her situation now was fairly reminiscent of such excursions. A smile lit up her face at the comparison. Her smile grew wider yet as she spotted the tall cone shaped gatherings of hyssop flowers peaking up out of the grasses. It wasn't sage, but it would certainly be of good use.