Closed [The Rearing Stallion] Boiling Point (Tiath)

[Orin Fenix]

87th of Spring, 515AV

Orin wiped the beads of sweat off his brow. It was getting close to Summer and the weather today had apparently decided to give Stormhold an early taste of what was to come. It had been stifling in the corridors that day. Orin had come into the kitchen today with a feeling of dread. As he had expected with the ovens running and the hearths on the kitchen was practically boiling. Orin had immediately broken out into a deep sweat. Everyone was moving languorously. Actually, no one else was in the kitchen today. Remi had declared herself feeling a bit faint and Rondo had fawned over her and fussed and generally hovered, encouraging her to leave. She’d given in without much resistance waving a quick goodbye to Orin. As soon as she’d exited the room Rondo had fixed Orin with his triumphant stare and informed Orin coldly that he was going out. Orin had debated whether asking him where he was going was worth the trouble and decided against it. So he’d just stood there meekly while Rondo gave Orin clear instructions before sweeping out in a show of haughty power that Orin just snickered at as soon as the irritable man was out of sight.

Orin had quickly retreated to the marginally cooler pantry. He had severe doubts about Rondo’s sanity at that particular moment. He’d told Orin to prepare a fish stew as today’s meal. But in this heat it would probably go over about as well as if Orin had just dumped the patrons over the head with boiling water. Still, there wasn’t much Orin could do about it. So, Orin went to the common room doors and propped them open then did the same with the back door. Hopefully, a little breeze running through the kitchen would help alleviate the heat problem. However, Orin couldn’t delay all that long. And as the day went on it was only likely to get hotter. So with a groan Orin went into the pantry. He gathered onions and potatoes and set them on a table. On the next trip Orin grabbed the butter and the milk. After that came the lemon juice before the final trip to get the cod. Orin also went to the spice cabinet to get out the pepper and salt. All of these went onto the central area of the kitchen. The counter there was as the foot of the stove and the oven so it was a good place for work when the kitchen wasn’t crowded as it was today.

Orin had to get the rest of the cooking supplies, mostly utensils and containers he’d need for the recipe. He grabbed a bucket of fresh water and then got the special pot he’d be cooking in. It was almost exactly the same as the one that Crest had shown Orin. As Orin’s thoughts turned to the vivacious Svefra, his heart skipped a beat, although from what feeling Orin couldn’t say. It was a bittersweet memory and Orin had come away from his encounters with Crest incredibly confused. So, Orin had done his best to put the man out of his mind. But it was hard when so many random object or sights or sound or scents or thoughts ended up plunging Orin right back into thinking about his conflicted emotions regarding the man who had tried to prove to Orin that love between two men wasn’t any different than it was between a man and a woman. Orin hadn’t been fully convinced but the doubts that had been introduced into Orin’s mind refused to be silenced, so Orin was just pointedly not letting himself dwell on the subject. It wasn’t as if there weren’t many very good distractions for Orin in the kitchen.

Orin buried himself in his work. He started peeling the potatoes. Once that was done, Orin started dicing them into chunks. They didn’t need to be particularly fine but Orin was pleased at the uniform regularity of them. Next Orin peeled the onions and sliced them in halves, carefully keeping his face out of the way of the pungent fumes. He smiled faintly as he remembered the times when he hadn’t known enough to avoid getting a full waft of onion in his face leading to irritated eyes for days. Orin had quickly learned to avoid that fate at all costs. Finally, Orin was ready to move onto the cod. However, he’d finally had enough of the temperature. Since he was alone anyway and his shirt was already soaked through, Orin stripped down to his trousers and laid his shirt by the fire to dry. He picked his knife back up and began cutting up the cod into rather large sections. However, Orin hadn’t gotten very far before footsteps started sounding in his ears as they approached the kitchen. Orin cursed under his breath. Apparently his timing couldn’t have been worse. Orin just hoped that it was Rondo or Remi. Anyone else, Orin would be embarrassed but at least he’d avoid trouble.

[Tiath Othos]

Tiath wondered around past the entrance of to the city for the third time that day a knight noted, watching the boy passed the gates again a few minutes later, pausing by a billboard that was littered with fliers. Moving a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese under his arm before shuffling through them to be able to read one that had been buried deep amongst them. Reading over it for the umpteenth time, he glanced around at the streets around him before huffing to himself, reaching for the bread and taking a bite of it. He had seen a certain life a number of moons ago but it the flier still stood, while hidden beneath the new sets. When having an address or name of a building it shouldn't be that hard to find... Should it? He sigh as he took off again looking for the place, walking into what he felt was labyrinth of buildings.

The knight watched as the boy disappeared between the buildings and went back to watching the entrance, continuing to look for any threats the safety of the public, numerous people moving about around the gate. His gaze sweeping over the crowds until he noticed the white hair boy again walk into the clearing with a confused look on his face as he again headed towards the board. Tiath was getting flustered at this point, embarrassment showing in his cheeks as he reached to check the flier again before he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder. He spun around quickly, hand twitching towards his sword which earned him a disapproving look from the knight.

"Did you need some help?" Tiath lowered his gaze from the knight trying to hide his reactions and trying to keep his response neutral but failing at it, his voice slightly wavering as he spoke. "I was looking for a place, it’s called the... Rearing Stallion I think" Again the knight gave him another disappointing look before pointing down a street the boy had already gone down. "Go down that street their and keep going until you start reaching all the different taverns and inn's, you have been there before right?" Tiath gave a small nod, confusion showing on his face revealing the truth. Sighing the knight pointed again "Go down those streets, wait till you come to a cross section after that on the third alleyway you should see the place"

Thanking the knight the boy set off following the instructions given to him, crowds of people moved around him and it slowed his progress but he just lowered his head and pushed on through. Standing at the end of the ally he paused and finished the remaining bread and cheese that he had before he started to walk down it, looking at each of the doors that he passed. The alleyway was empty very empty for a place that was supposed to be a tavern. He was becoming nervous as he spotted a single open door in the ally, smell of food being prepared coming from within it. He gathered up the courage end entered through the open door.

"Uh... Um... I " Tiath stumbled over his own words his face bright red as tried to get words out. “I think... I think I am in the wrong place, I saw I flier about cooking and I I I...” He trailed off as he turned away from the shirtless man, dropping his head into his hands before running them through his hair. Trying to compose himself, he took a deep breath and turned back to the man, another flush of red running through his cheeks before he dropped his gaze away again.

[Orin Fenix]

It was, thankfully, no one Orin knew. Not that it wasn’t still embarrassing but at least Orin wouldn’t be shirtless around his bosses or worse, one of his female colleagues. In fact, most of Orin’s coworkers were women, which often made Orin quite nervous seeing as women were practically inscrutable to Orin. Still, with the help of Sayana and a few other good friends Orin was slowing starting to get an understanding of the feminine psyche. Unfortunately, that didn’t actually end up having the desired effect of making them less terrifying. Quite the opposite actually, seeing as their convoluted logic and strange twists of thinking left Orin more perplexed than he had been before. So generally Orin’s policy was to tread carefully around members of the opposite sex until they had proven that they weren’t going to jump at Orin the first chance they got over some imagined slight. Of course, now that Orin had put it like that, it sounded pretty much exactly the same as his method for dealing with unfamiliar men. So, essentially, Orin would just avoid people as much as possible regardless of gender. Orin at least was opening up slightly, for two reasons. One, his New Year’s resolution which he’d been sticking to faithfully was to be open to new experiences and Orin had certainly had his fair share of those. As a result, Orin had come into contact with all sorts of interesting people and seen so much he’d never thought he would. Much of it had been dangerous but at the same time it had been exhilarating and Orin had come through it all stronger and with some fire-forged companions. So that was worth all the risk in the world. The second was all to do with Orin’s bondmate, Sylvette who had opened Orin’s mind up more than Orin could tell. She was always with him, usually as a passive presence unless Orin focused on her, but mostly she proved to be a dear friend and an adventuring partner. And she was pushing Orin to be more outgoing and sure of himself.

But now was not the time to dwell on how Orin’s season had gone. Orin had a visitor and he turned to examine the newcomer. The man was about Orin’s height with striking white hair. There was a thin scar along his jaw and his eyes were a intriguing shade of hazel. His clothing was white and hid a trim physique that only looked skinny if one didn’t see the tell-tell signs of muscles running along his limbs. Orin thought of his own body and sighed. He wasn’t anything close to being strong. In fact, Orin was almost stick thin. While he didn’t have any fat on him, surprising considering his profession, he also didn’t have any muscle mass. And his control over his limbs was quite horrible. Most people, Orin included, would describe Orin as gangly and just a bit clumsy and although Orin was working hard to build up his strength and master his wayward limbs it was slow going. Still, Orin didn’t resent anyone else his or her hard-won abilities. It just inspired Orin to work harder towards his own physical fitness goals.

The man was clearly waiting for a response and seeing as there had been quite a few random people wandering into the kitchen seeking to help out Orin had a standard response all prepared. Orin was highly amused to see the other man was a nice crimson red, since usually it was Orin who had that particular affliction. ”Hello and welcome to The Rearing Stallion. Yes we do have people come in and help with the cooking, or at least I do. Not sure what that flier you’re talking about is but please come in. Do you have any cooking experience?” Orin walked over to the man and led him towards the pantry. It didn’t matter if the man could cook at all or not. Orin was well used to overseeing everything from a complete beginner to someone with skills that probably rivaled Orin’s own and either way Orin would be keeping a sharp eye on the other’s work until Orin had assured himself he didn’t have to worry. Rummaging about in the pantry Orin emerged with a spare apron. ”Here, put this on. I wouldn’t want those clothes of yours to get stained.” Orin’s were already covered in old stains so he didn’t bother getting an apron for himself. Orin debated putting his shirt back on but in the end decided against it. First of all, this was another man. Second of all Orin had vowed to himself that he’d try to get more comfortable in his own skin and wearing less clothes for Sylvette, who often wandered around naked with no problem. So this seemed to be good practice. Still, Orin’s cheeks flushed slightly as he walked around. Hopefully the other man would put it down to the heat of the day and not the fact that Orin was shirtless.

Realizing he’d need something for the other man to do, Orin retrieved more onions, potatoes and cod from the pantry as well as another pot. It wouldn’t hurt to make a double batch since this would likely cover the lunch and dinner rushes. Placing them all on the counter, Orin turned to give the other man instructions. ”All right, let’s get to work. I hope you didn’t think you’d get off easy here, the best way to learn cooking is by doing, and my new friend you most definitely will be doing a lot today. First, I’ll need you to peel those potatoes and then sliced them into chunks. If you don’t know how, don’t worry, just watch me.” Orin picked up a potato and a knife and quickly and efficiently, although still at a pace the man could follow, peeled it. Next he sliced the potato into sufficiently sized pieces. ”After that we’ll move on to peeling the onions and cutting them in half. But don’t worry; we can take this one step at a time. Unless you’re comfortable moving at a slightly faster speed, in which case all the better.” It was true. Orin didn’t have all the time in the world to get these dishes out so sometimes when he was forced to go too slowly he barely had them cooked in time.

[Tiath Othos]

Hesitantly taking a step back as the shirtless chief came closer Tiath became more flustered than ever, it only became worse as the man dragged him further into the kitchen and further out of his depth. He quickly cast his gaze around the kitchen as they moved towards the pantry, there didn't seem to be anyone else in the kitchen which meant that the man who was leading him was the head chief. The kitchen itself seemed pretty clean and from Tiath could guess was a pretty grand kitchen in its own right, seeing that it had multiple fires burning under different stoves and ovens. He also noticed a few ingredients that had been where the chief had been before he rudely interrupted him as well as a shirt in front of the fire. His attention was brought back to the man as well as his gaze at the question, his eyes glancing at his body for a split second before he forced them away and to meet his gaze. "I have a little experience, just making some bread with my mother at home but nothing more then just being a hand."

His mind wondered for a moment to the memories of helping his mother cook bread in their small oven for their lunches, the rolling of flour in order to make the dough for it, the mouth-watering smell as they waited for it to be baked. Again his attention was forced back into the real world as the chief passed him a an apron to wear, he glanced down at his own clothes, black smudges that dotted it as well a few burn holes in it from where the white hot ingots from his job had brushed his clothes, setting them alight at times. The boy then looked up at the man and couldn't help but smile and take the apron, putting it over his head and struggling to tie it around his for a moment. He again glanced at the man's shirt this time noticing the wet patches over it before going back to the chief. He could feel the heat in the room but it was nothing compared to what he was used to, as standing close to fire that was meant to being to melt metal in comparison to a fire that was meant to cook a man’s next meal.

It was like watching his father train with a sword as the chief began to give him instructions on what he had to do as he took the small blade to the potato, efficiently cutting the skin off without a single wasted movement in the cuts that he took even when slicing it into the pieces.
"All I can do is try my best to not be a nuisance" Tiath said in a meek voice as he watched the chief, hard pressed to hide an impressed look as well as his nervousness, suddenly finding himself feeling like he might be inadequate at the task and might screw it up for the chief. He slowly picked up a small knife for himself, a lifetime of training kicking in as he felt the weight of the blade in his hand and instinctively finding the balance in it. A slight smile of satisfaction played on his lips as he lifted a potato, placing the blade against the skin, lightly piercing it and starting to take the skin off it. He picked up on it quickly and became more confident in himself as he did it, although it wasn't perfect or as smooth as the chiefs, he didn't feel as he had screwed up as much as he did when at the forge.

After cutting through a few more potato’s, he glanced back at the chief, a rare moment of bravery coming from somewhere within him. He quickly undid the apron and slid off his own shirt before he could regret the choice, placing it beside the mans before turning to the cheif, his left arm held across his upper body, trying to cover himself slightly. "I'm Tiath, thanks for taking me on for the day" he said, his face a perfect picture of embarrassment and regret in that moment as he extended a handshake.

[Orin Fenix]

For once, Orin wasn’t the most awkward person in the room and hypocritically, Orin was enjoying every last tick of it. The simple act of bringing this other man into the kitchen seemed to make him incredibly flustered and Orin was stumped. Orin had assumed that his greeting was just friendly. Maybe it was a bit too enthusiastic and Orin resolved to tone it back for the next person to come in. If there was indeed a next person since even though occasionally people came straight into the kitchen more usually they were just lost on their way to the common room. On that note, Orin had a question for the other man. ”So how’d you find us? I mean, the flier sure but this entrance isn’t exactly easy to get to, you have to go around the front and make your way through the alley and it’s actually kind of annoying if you’re in a hurry and seeing as I’m often in a hurry and coming pelting through the common room isn’t great for business I’ve been told. So generally it’s a damn nuisance although being able to sneak out and prop it open is well worth it.” Realizing the man didn’t need the entire run down on Orin’s issues with the back door Orin scrubbed a hand through his hair and shrugged. It looked like the man and Orin were on a pretty equal level of awkwardness which should make the next couple of bells or however long the man actually stayed here very fun. If your idea of fun was a lot of humiliation on both sides, that is.

Plowing ahead with a forced cheerfulness despite the flush that continued to suffuse his cheeks Orin tried a grin, unsure how successful it actually was. Regardless, it was plastered on his face and he’d keep it there as long as he could in the hopes of defusing some of the complete lack of social grace Orin had been displaying earlier. He figured that the man was selling his abilities short. Even if he wasn’t, Orin had found that people were usually uncharacteristically nervous in the kitchen. It was odd, since Orin didn’t get what they were so worried about. Especially if they were being watched and supervised it was nearly impossible to ruin the food. At least, not while Orin was on the job. Still, it might help the man to relax if Orin reassured him. ”I’m sure you’re better than you say and I can tell you that an extra pair of hands in the kitchen is always welcome and will never be a nuisance. At least not for me obviously I can’t speak for anyone else. And I’m not even in charge around here, well, unless it’s like now and the other cooks are out but that rarely happens. They’re usually pretty nice though.” Orin let the grin fade slightly, entirely unsure if his efforts to make it clear to the other man that Orin didn’t see this as an imposition were successful at all.

Orin firmly took Tiath’s hand in his own and gave it a few quick shakes. Orin had mastered that much of polite niceties at least. He knew enough to know that generally speaking releasing the other person’s hand sooner rather than later was the best course of action. Orin was also quite pleased to see that even if Tiath wasn’t quite up to Orin’s levels he did have a good grasp of the basics of cooking. That would make Orin’s job significantly easier. ”Pleased to meet ya Tiath. That’s an interesting name. And you’re very welcome but I warn ya you may regret stopping by.” Orin was about to chuckle at his own joke when the situation took a strange turn. Tiath stripped off his own shirt in, perhaps in imitation of Orin’s own shirtless state. Orin’s gaze zeroed into the man’s well-toned chest before Orin tore his eyes away forcibly. Not only was staring unacceptable, staring at another man’s, or woman’s for that matter, body was just wrong. And Orin wasn’t interested in men. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself, his recent history with Crest aside.

Stumbling over his tongue, Orin tried to cover his mistake in letting his eyes linger where they shouldn’t have. ”So yes, fish stew, I mean that’s what I’m making, sorry, we, what we’re making today well it wasn’t my choice but that’s besides the point and anyway is it hot in here or is it just me? I mean I was hot earlier but has it cooled down at all you think? Sorry that was an odd tangent don’t know where that came from. Let’s talk fish and stew and cooking. Yes. That’s what we’re doing here cooking a fish stew. So that’s what we should keep doing.” Orin had to make himself take a few deep breaths before he could get even a semblance of his former poise back. Not that he actually had much poise but at least he could make himself understood now. He coughed, the tried to start again. ”What I was saying is that the next step, as I said is peeling and cutting up the onions. Like so.” Orin removed the skin from the outside and his nose wrinkled slightly at the pungent scent. At least his eyes had grown accustomed and no longer started watering. He chopped it in half when the inside was exposed and then set it aside. ”Alright, your turn. Once that’s done I’ll show you what to do with the fish.” Orin fervently thanked any god or goddess that was listening that he could manage his words and his feelings much better when he was cooking. It had saved him quite a bit of embarrassment in the past and it had done so again today. His fragile self-esteem was strengthened in any kitchen, and Orin drew that to himself like a cloak in the cold. He could handle anything as long as he could keep himself calm.

[Tiath Othos]

A look of surprise crossed his face as the chief rambled on about the entrance that he had come through, "Oh, I thought that was the main entrance" He said sheepishly. The damn knight had given him dodgy directions on where to go, another thing to add to his slowly growing list of wrongs. However that didn't stop him from listening to the chiefs intently, although he didn't really understand the problem and it showed. He had never had a problem like it with the forge being an open aired building. Maybe the man was a little lazy about walking extra distance, giving a mental shrug he decided he didn't mind either way, it was his choice.

Turning away from the chief, Tiath went back to continue finishing up with the remaining potatoes, a disheartened look crossing his face as he did. The boy guessed that he would have to earn the respect of the man before he was allowed to learn his name, which was fine by him, it was just a bit strange. He began to laugh, trying to hold it in as the chief stumbled over his own words, not really sure why but it just made the whole ordeal a lot more light hearted and cleared that atmosphere up. "Well it’s not hot for me but that’s because I spend a lot of time near the forges so that could be the reason" he reached for an onion and begun to copy what had been shown to him, taking the skin away first. He was too busy concentrating on not screwing up the slices as the knife moved closer to his fingers, not giving much thought to what came from his mouth as he did. "Tho if it’s too hot you could always take off your pants?"

O... Did he really just say that aloud, he froze and glanced at the chief out of the corner of his eye as he processed what he had just said. Dropping the knife onto the counter he turned to the man his face again bright red, "I didn't mean to say that, I am really sorry, I spoke without thinking" he said really nervously, his arm instinctively crossing his chest and grabbing his right, covering himself. Things were getting really weird and it was now that he suddenly could feel the heat against his face.

This was so awkward now, again he lowered his gaze away from the man’s face and onto his chest, lingering a second before he realised where he was looking and dragged his gaze elsewhere, "Um... That wasn't meant to sound like that at all" He said quietly before he took a step backwards to where he had placed his shirt. "I'm really sorry, it was out of line and I shouldn't have said that at all." Glancing up at the man to gage his reaction. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair again, the nervous tick of his showing again before brushing something out of his eye. "I can understand tho if you want me to go after all of this, sorry about causing trouble" a defeated tone in his voice as he reached for his shirt. He glanced up one more time to try guess what the chief could be thinking as his eye started to sting suddenly and become reddened.

[Orin Fenix]

Tiath was obviously not at all interested in Orin’s problems with the back door and Orin couldn’t exactly say he blamed the man. The diatribe had basically came out of nowehere. Honestly, it probably just stemmed from Orin’s growing unhappiness at The Rearing Stallion. Orin didn’t know where that came from exactly. It seemed to be a whole mix of different feelings and emotions. Some of it was from discovering that Orin had a very well hidden adventurous side to him. All his excursions this season had definitely proved to be eye-opening as to what Orin was able to handle in a pinch. Also, his bond to Sylvette constantly provided Orin with a feeling of both support and a nagging curiosity and boldness that was totally uncharacteristic and yet at the same time seemed to fit Orin liked a glove. And some of it was his growing sense that he’d learned everything he could at this tavern and that it would take new sights, sounds, scents and most especially tastes to bring Orin’s cooking to a whole new level. And that wasn’t anything Orin could get in Syliras. But Orin wasn’t quite at the point where he felt he could manage to travel, actually leave the safety of Syliras and the only home he’d ever known to face the big wide world and everything that would entail. So Orin was hovering on a precipice, halfway between taking that extra step forward and plunging in and falling back to the solid ground. It was terrifying, frankly, since Orin didn’t know which way the wind would blow him and that was probably going to influence his decision as much as anything else would. A random event would have to make the choice for Orin since Orin was so stuck between two completely differently lives. And that was both terrifying and exhilarating knowing that everything could change between one heartbeat and the next. So, all that was to say that the door was just a symptom of a far larger issue.

Of course, none of this was getting the fish cooked and Orin didn’t want to keep Tiath waiting any longer. Coming out of his daydreams and strange thoughts Orin focused his eyes back on the man. Of course, right about then was when Orin realized his horrible breach of manners. ”I completely and utterly forgot to introduce myself. I’m so sorry I’m a dolt I really am and thoughtless and rude. I’m Orin Fenix assistant cook here at The Rearing Stallion, finest establishment in Syliras, I mean, I kind of have to say that part seeing as I work here but that doesn’t make it any less true. So if you don’t mind me asking well, actually I’m going to ask you quite a few questions so apologies in advance. What do you do for a living? If I had to hazard a guess it’s a smith of some type but I don’t know, are there different types or something? Smithing isn’t my area of expertise, well, you probably kind of got that from me being a cook and all already didn’t ya? So, where are you from? Syliras or elsewhere? I have to admit my knowledge of geography outside Syliras ain’t so stellar so if it’s some foreign city you’re going to have to explain it to me.” However, even Orin’s normally far too active mouth was stopped at the man’s next comment.

Take off my pants?! At least Orin wasn’t the only one who found that particular statement to be quite a strange one. Tiath had a spectacular reaction to his own words and seeing his amazingly embarrassed face Orin couldn’t help but laugh. Usually it was Orin making the completely inappropriate non-sequiturs and being on the receiving end of one was a weirdly comforting experience for Orin. And so, while normally Orin would have been spiralling out of control after that Orin was steady. Maybe because he was getting used to awkwardness so it didn’t faze him anymore. Regardless the reason Orin wanted to reassure Tiath that his comment hadn’t been taken amiss. Patting the man’s arm Orin grinned. ”I figured it was a slip of the tongue and that you didn’t mean what it meant or well, implied. Tell you what. I’ll let that one slide if you promise to give me one free asinine comment down the line and I promise it will probably be worse than yours. Sound like a deal?” It was true that Orin had much worse misunderstandings. For instance that time he’d been trying to be gallant and ended up telling the lady he would never sleep with her by accident. He had meant to try and protect her honor and it just came out completely wrong. Luckily she hadn’t taken it amiss at all. So Orin figured he was just passing along that favor now in a way.

It seemed to be the perfect time to get back to the actual cooking and Orin resolutely returned to the table, carefully avoiding looking at Tiath. He wanted to give the other man some time to recover himself. Placing both of their pots on the stove, Orin threw the onions and cut off a huge chunk of butter and tossed it in with the onions. ”Alright while those are sauteing, sorry, cooking, it’s just a fancy word for it, we’ll cut up the fish. It’s already been deboned so we don’t have to worry about that. I just need you to slice them into chunks the size I’m about to show you. Oh, wait sorry put the butter and onions in first.” Orin passed the butter down to Tiath, then sliced a chunk off the cod. Holding it up to the other man, Orin smiled. ”Doesn’t have to be that precise, again, but about this big would be good.” The chunk was just slightly larger than the size of the circle made by touching his index finger to his thumb. He showed that to Tiath so the man had a bit of a reference to go off of. Orin just hoped the two of them had similar sized hands. They were about the same height so it would make sense they would be at least reasonably close. Then again, Orin didn’t know much about human anatomy so it was possible that was the worst demonstration Orin could’ve used to show the size of the cod. Thinking that, Orin actually just placed the cod piece next to Tiath’s whole fillet so the man could check if his slices were correct. After that, Orin went back to working on his own fish.

[Sylvette Sciath]

Few things beat a nice neap in this world, though the one thing that beats a nap is a nap in a ray of sunlight, And nothing beats that. Except perhaps food... Not that it particularly mattered after all It's not like the thing that's best can't change from moment to moment. Half awake on the window seal Sylvette listened to the sounds of Orin busying himself in the kitchen. It was a pleasant sound and one Sylvette had grown rather used too over the time she had spent with Orin. Sylvette had found that she never grew tired of the daily routine they shared, going to work, working, eating, going home and sleeping, It wasn't the most fantastic or adventurous existence but it did make Sylvette happy, and for the most part Sylvette felt that Orin too enjoyed it. At some point Rondo left in his usual pompous puff of ego, which was always nice, Sylvette could almost feel her partner relax whenever the man wasn't around which in turn made Sylvette relax. Thus did the day continue until at some point a stranger made his way into the kitchen, opening a single eye to observe him He was a rather tall person around Orin's height, with oddly pale hair, Visibly a little thicker than Orin. Sylvette listened to the two talk back and forth for a minute. It seemed the man was after cooking lessons from Orin. Well that was mildly interesting but not interesting enough for Sylvette to involve herself. After a few more moments Of banter the sounds of cooking again filled the Kitchen and with them so did the smells that accompanied the sounds of cooking. If there was one thing that Sylvette hated it was the temptation that accompanied the smells of food cooking. Trying to ignore the smells of food Sylvette failed as her stomach gave a growl that informed her there would be no ignoring the smells of fish cooking. Hopping off of the window seal and walking into the pantry Sylvette transformed into her human form and donned the white Summer dress she had bought with Orin, It was mildly loose and it came down to just past her knees, It had been a compromise sense Sylvette didn't like to be Confined be restrictive garments but Orin insisted she wear clothing when in her human form. Sylvette quickly decided rather quickly to go sax undergarments as it really was much to hot for any thing more than the white summer dress. Leaving the pantry Sylvette approached Orin using him as a buffer between herself and the stranger. Pinching Orin's elbow softly to get his attention Sylvette Looked at him and let her stomach do the talking as it let out a rather unhappy gurgle. This was accompanied by Sylvette Giving Orin a pitiful look, letting her eyes get big and cocking her head just a little to the side. She had found this to be a rather effective way to get her way from time to time.

[Tiath Othos]

Forcing himself to take a take a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment. Ok you need to calm down, stop making mistakes and sort yourself out, you can’t make a fool of yourself anymore. Exhaling the pent up breath he begun to take on a slightly more mellowed mood and begun to focus on the tasks at hand, grateful towards Orin for being understanding as he picked up the knife again, watching carefully as the chief began to take him through the steps that were going to be needed in order to prepare the dish. He tried to follow every step perfectly, holding off from speaking for the moment as he threw in his own cut of the butter as well as the rest of the ingredients he had been cutting up.

Holding knife over the fish Tiath took a sidewards glance at the Orin’s slice from across the bench and was about to ask before the man brought his over. Given an internal sigh, he start to plot out where he would cut in mind, mapping out spots on the fish before starting to press the knife through the fish, trying to make sure that he wasted as little as possible. As soon as the blade pierced the skin and cut into the meat he had to stop for a moment, a vile feeling rising in him, even tho he his short life had been based around the sword he had never taken a life let alone cut into anything of flesh before. It took him more than a moment to overcome the feeling, pushing it down before he was able to continue and push the knife through the fish.

"Hey Orin, thank you for letting me help you to cook this... “ He said quietly as he forced himself to continue, trying to get him mind off the feeling. ” And I currently am working as a blacksmith tho I only started this season." He said still trying to keep his thoughts away from the feeling of the blade pushing through the muscles. "I currently am just learning under a mentor named Baldemar, he is teaching me the basics but..." He paused for a moment as he searched for the right way to phrase it. "He is helping when I need it but other than that its more just repetition, like learning to swing a sword, I just need to learn how to swing the hammer correctly and where to hit. It’s a million little things that are just piling up but only by doing it will I learn." He peaked over at the chief, wondering if Orin understood what he meant by it. "And no there are a few different types; I am just a blacksmith so I make simple things like horse shoes and nails." A coming to his face as he remembered the small nail that he kept in his pocket as a keepsake, "Well I guess I make a lot of nails at the moment, part of my training I guess" by this point he was about half way through the fish and making progress. "There are armour smiths and weapons smiths" pausing a moment to rub at the scar, a painful reminder, "and they do, well, what you think they might." he blinked with surprise, realising that he had finished cutting up the fish. Placing the knife down taking a moment to push the scraps that had been left away from the now circles of the fish. "Uh what should I do with these?" he asked turning to Orin before releasing that there was suddenly another in the room.

He glanced at the girl who had attached themselves to the arm of the chief, surprised at her sudden appearance in the kitchen. He glanced out of the corner at his eye at the door to the kitchen, swearing that he hadn't heard a sound from it. He gave the girl a very quick glance over, she seemed to be about his age, maybe a bit younger than him and a bit shorter then him. He had to admit tho, with the orange hair and the freckles she looked kind of cute. “Um.. Hi” was all Tiath managed to say before turned away from the two of them nervously and suddenly took a great interest in the fish again, becoming more aware of the fact that he still didn't have his shirt on.

[Orin Fenix]

Orin was very pleased when Tiath followed the next set of directions without a problem. Orin had gotten all sorts and while he was more than happy to help out complete beginners it did get rather annoying when Orin felt himself moving at a snail’s pace just so someone else could get a little bit of knowledge that they really should’ve been able to figure out on their own. And while Orin didn’t necessarily begrudge taking time out of the day to help someone this was actually a job for him and he had a strict schedule to keep to. If he lost time then that meant he’d have to work extra efficiently or risk losing out on his wages. Luckily Orin had managed to make it all work mostly because Orin was a much better chef than he thought either Remi or Rondo quite realized so they expected him to be slower than he was. And somehow they never noticed that Orin completed the tasks much quickly. Of course part of this stemmed from Orin’s policy of making as few ripples as possible. Apart from a few blow-ups with Rondo every once in a while Orin played the part of kitchen drudge and general boy of all help to the hilt. Even though Orin was a man and would be willing to pit his skill against any chef in Syliras at this point. Not that it would really be a competition for anyone except Rondo and maybe Remi. And that was mostly because Orin had limited exposure to food beyond the tavern fare that he cooked on a daily basis. Sure, he’d done a few more exotic dishes here and there, mostly for special occasions. But usually it was the same fare day in and day out. It got boring frankly and Orin yearned for more even as he craved the security of Syliras. So he was back to this subject again. Worrying about it wouldn’t get Orin anywhere.

Coming back to the present, Orin realized he’d only been half-listening to Tiath’s explanations of blacksmithing. Mentally kicking himself Orin forced himself to pay attention to the man who actually seemed shyer than Orin. So Orin’s heart went out to him. And Orin made a conscious effort to absorb what the other man was saying. It actually was pretty fascinating. Blacksmithing was essentially magic to Orin. He used items made by smiths, sure, just had no idea how they became the way they were. Perhaps he could remedy that right now. First off, Orin wasn’t that surprised there were so many different types of blacksmiths. It was kind of like cooking in that regard. While the base skills were the same, once it started to get into more complicated areas specialization was necessary. Bakers and pastry chefs and tavern cooks all needed a wildly different skillset but all of them were chefs. So it made an awful lot of sense that smiths broke down into armorsmiths, weaponsmiths and apparently whatever the type of smith that made horseshoes and nails was called. Maybe that one was just a plain old smith.”So, I’m sure this is an annoying question but why horseshoes and nails? It seems a really odd combination to start with, I mean, is there something special about those two items I should know about? I remember when I started cooking the only dish I was allowed to touch was the soup and that was mostly stirring. Actually, most of the time the only dish I’m allowed to deal with on my own is the soup. There’s been a lot of soup in my life now that I think about it, not that you needed to know that.” Having shifted the subject to food, albiet unintentionally, Orin figured that was as good as segue as any into the next ingredients. ”Alright then, now we’re going to add the water and the potatoes. And then we wait another ten chimes. You’ll quickly come to realize most of cooking is waiting. I imagine it’s probably a complete change of pace for you although I don’t know, do smiths work all day?” As he spoke Orin poured the water until the pot was a third full. Gesturing at Tiath to examine his pot to get the proportions right Orin scraped the potatoes in once the smith had gotten a gander. Orin finally registered Tiath’s question, and quickly replied. ”Oh, the fish? Don’t worry that goes in last, along with…”

The rest of Orin’s words cut off as Sylvette uncoiled herself and transformed in front of Orin’s eyes. Orin blushed, embarrassed all over again at his bondmates behavior. Still, when she came up to him with pleading eyes Orin was hard pressed to deny her, but somehow he managed. ”You’ll get the food when it’s done no sooner. And that’s just half a bell so you can wait.” Orin did his best to fix his best stern look on his face although admittedly it probably just looked comical. Still, Sylvette really should know better by now. ”You’ve only got yourself to blame really. You know shifting makes you ravenous. Besides, you’re being awfully rude to our visitor. Introduce yourself please. And we talked about shifting in front of people! Why can't you, I don't know, use the pantry or something?” Orin ended on a rather exacerbated note. He didn’t like getting mad at Sylvette since most of the time she made him happy. But she was surprisingly boneheaded and stubborn about so many issues that Orin wished she would just cave on. It really shouldn’t be that difficult for her to at least be modest for Orin’s sake.