PM to join [The Practice Kitchens] The Way to a Man's Heart (Epifanio)

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

26th Day, Summer, 516

Alekxandra had little to do when the Winterflame hold slept. Night was when she felt most alive, most active. If it wasn’t so dangerous to hunt outside the city at night she would have gladly taken up the chance, but calm nights that didn’t chill one to the bone were rare and Alek certainly had no death wish. But chasing mice across the her hold only kept her mind busy for so long.

When she had been younger her mother had taught her cooking for the express reason to keep her out of trouble--which she had fallen into quite a bit. The hold itself was used to her wandering at night by now, but Alek knew if she didn’t keep herself occupied she’d eventually fall right back into trouble.

Sitting on a counter in the practice kitchens with her legs swinging back and forth she eyed a cooking pot resting over the edge of a fire. With hunting instincts often came hunger and Alek had no trouble taking advantage of the kitchens to preoccupy herself. While most of the hold was asleep there was still several Winterflame members scattered about the kitchen, but Alek kept to herself on the other side of the kitchen from prying eyes.The others varied in age, but the only one paying her any heed was an elderly woman.

A sharp but quick pain splintered up the back of her head and Alek slid off the counter without even bothering to face the old woman and her wooden spoon. This wasn’t the first time she had been reprimanded for disrespecting the kitchen space. She could hear the elderly Winterflame grumbling under her breath and Alek barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. The woman always knew when she misbehaved, even if it was only slightly just.

”I’m sorry elder.” She spoke up, daring to glance over her shoulder. The spoon waved in her general direction with more grumbling but the old woman didn’t bother to answer her. By now the two of them knew that this wasn’t the last time she’d dish out punishment to Alek. Sighing heavily Alek snatched her own wooden spoon from the counter and approached her stew.

It smelled fairly delicious, though her nose was picking up the scent of lemon far more than she should be. It wasn’t surprising really considering this was an experiment of hers. There was no telling if her spices were on point in this stew, but she stirred the mixture none the less. A few mushroom and tomato floated to the surface and Alek wrinkled her nose slightly. The stew needed something else, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Tapping the spoon on the pot, she glanced around the kitchen. Herbs and various vegetables were available. Nothing stood out in her mind and this time it was Alek’s turn to grumble under her breath. Tossing the stirring spoon back onto the counter--and purposely avoiding the glare of the elder that the sound caused no doubt--Alekxandra picked up one of the dried bits of tomato that had not ended up in her stew and popped it into her mouth instead.

[Epifanio Snowsong]

A hare and a Wolf

Stirring from his sleep, Epifanio was awoken from his rest when he heard something pound against his wall. The acoustics of his room reverberated the sound and caused almost an echo to bounce throughout the room. Flaying around in his bed and throwing a tantrum he turned his body around throwing up his bed covers in the process and slammed his body into his bed on his stomach and tried to go back to sleep. The pounding soon occurred again and again. “What in the Rhaus’ is causing that annoying sound!” He cried out as pulling his body out of his bed.

He opened his door only slightly, as he was mostly naked and attempted to look into the hall to see if it was someone knocking or the such, but the halls were mostly empty at this time. As his head poked out of his door a female Snowsong passed by, walking quietly, and was surprised to see a topless man poking out of a door. She blushed slightly and diverted her eyes “Sorry, didn’t expect anyone to be awake! I hope I wasn’t making too much noise.” She innocently said.

“What was that wretched pounding sound, and don’t tell me it was your heart, fair lady.” He had responded. This only caused the female to blush more and divert her eyes all the more, her voice grew frantic “I was just walking to my room, what are you talking about?”

Epifanio sighed and closed his door in response to her statement. He reluctantly got dressed and opened up the door once more. He noticed the female was now gone. “Bummer, maybe I should have come out the way that I was.” He grumbled to himself. He was wearing his normal attire and had his instrument and bow like usual. As he walked down the halls to the exit of the Snowsong hall he braced himself for a moment before heading outside.

Putting pipe to mouth the bard lit his herbs and started to smoke his Cyphrian Tabacco. He slightly started to feel a bit more relaxed, and the sweet taste filled his mouth. Suddenly, while puffing on his pipe he once again heard a loud bang. Walking in the direction of the sound; Epifanio came across something rather strange. A few Talderan Snow Hares were working on trying to burrow into the snow close to where his room would be. There was a mound of snow caused by the three foot hares. Epi smiled and drew his bow. He couldn’t be room-mates to both a sometimes annoying performer and a family of hares! He knocked an arrow silently and drew it back. After taking aim, he let the arrow loose and it struck on the hares in the hind leg. His aim wasn’t the greatest yet. A collection of the Hares began to run off, their speed causing them hard to see. The only one that was still near was the one which had been hit by the arrow, it still sticking out and causing blood to dye the snow red around him. Epifanio knocked another arrow and aimed towards the torso of the Hare and let it loose.

With a slight cry, the Hare was struck and fell lifeless. “Teaches them to make a home near mine!” He walked up to the hare and retrieved his arrows from the hare and knelt down attempting to pick up the hare. His stomach grumbled and he wondered what he would do with his game. He wondered to himself if someone from the Winterflame’s Hold would be able to help him or possible even teach him how to skin and prepare the meat he had just procured. Taking his last puff from his pipe he started to drag the hare toward their hold. He was struggling in carrying the hare in the snow and resulted in grabbing the hare by the ears and dragging it. It left a slightly bloody trail along his travels.

Finally reaching the hold Epifanio smelled something delicious as entering the kitchens. He first noticed a beautiful woman he was sure he had seen before, but couldn’t exactly remember from when. She had exotic red hair, and beautiful supple lips. “Uhm, Excuse me? I caught this hare trying to build a home outside of my room. It woke me up and well, I was wondering if you could help me prepare this hare and skin it?” He had it in his arms as to prevent blood from dripping into their hold and their kitchen. Most of it had coagulated and been drained by now anyways, but he was still careful.

He smiled and took it to a nearby counter, setting it down, and exhausted from carrying it. “That smells absolutely delicious by the way!” Epifanio said as the older elder exchanged some dirty looks with him and mostly shrugged him off.

oocIt is likely that a wolf might enjoy having a hare presented to it, and the elder might take her leave or scald Epifanio for placing a dead animal on their kitchen counter. Hopefully she leaves, but it is hard to say




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[Alekxandra Winterflame]

Visitors in the kitchens at this time of night was a rare thing. But apparently there was one, a handsome at that. Alekxandra blinked dumbly at him for a moment before she shook her head slightly and focused on the hare he placed on the counter.

”Oh… that’s…” Alekxandra stumbled over her words slightly. She had never actually butchered a hare before. She had observed her mother do it a hundred times, but she had always made it look so effortless. Which usually meant it was harder. Before she could answer however the elderly teacher seemed to appear out of nowhere next to her. Sometimes Alek really wondered if the woman could read minds even from across the largest rooms.

”Bah! Give me that Alek.“ The hare was shifted swiftly across the table as the old woman snagged the beast by the back legs. With expert fingers the woman took hold of the skin in one hand and the joint of a back leg. The skin popped neatly up from the meat in a clear tear of the hide and she proceeded to do the same with the other leg. Clearing her throat from mild embarrassment at her inability to help, Alek glanced at the man.

”I can cook them fairly well. Just haven't learned how to clean them as needed,” She shot a small glare towards the woman as she continued to pull at the hide of the hare with skilled hands without the need for a knife. ”Yet.”

If the woman noticed the glare she was ignoring it quite well. The teacher finally lifted a knife from her belt as the hide was nearly tugged to the head of the hare. A few well placed strokes had the head cleanly off and the hide pulled free mostly intact. Tossing the hide towards Epifano, she went straight to work on carefully opening the inside of the hare.

”Don’t think you’ll be able to save that here.” Alek mumbled under her breath more towards herself than the man. Her eyes were trying desperately to keep up with her teacher’s movements but the woman was moving just too fast for her to keep up. As her teacher went about carefully removing the stomach and intestines first Alek finally turned to the man with a deep sigh. She’d have to take learning these techniques with another teacher some other time.

”I’m Alekxandra by the way. You can call me Alek though if you’d like.” Giving the man her best warm smile, she was about to offer her hand but the teacher interrupted her with a loud clearing of her throat. Rolling her eyes, Alek turned to face the teacher fairly shoved the newly gutted hare towards her.

”I take it you can handle it from here?” The woman huffed at her and Alek merely nodded her in head in agreement. The woman grunted in approval before she began to shuffle back towards the other end of the kitchen, though not before calling out over her shoulder, ”And don’t roll your eyes at me again girl.”

Pursing her lips slightly Alek managed to keep her tongue to herself as she reached across the table for another knife. Tilting her head slightly she ran her fingers down the hare’s meat for a moment to find the best angle to cut the meat before shaking her head and simply began to split the hare’s spine into three even sections… well nearly even anyways.

”Sorry about her. I think she’s a little cranky from lack of sleep.” Alek whispered towards him, glancing up at him a moment before looking back down at the meat in her hands.

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Epifanio Snowsong
It wasn’t long that Epifanio’s charm was overtaken by the subtleties of the elder. However, he still watched in awe trying to pay close attention to how the fur was pulled from the meat of hare. It was a natural thing, and didn’t disgust him in the least. If anything it only made his hunger that much apparent, as his stomach growled like a wolf howling towards their mates. “Oh, sorry about that!” He immediately choked out embarrassingly.

“I can relate to the lack of sleep, though perhaps not the cranky part. Not with such fine looking and capable women, here.” Epifanio was clear toned and said it loud enough for the elder to hear as well. He wasn’t paying much attention to her at this time, his eyes were more on Alekxandra, but he could only assume she would’ve rolled her eyes to the stale compliment.

“Pleased to meet you by the way Alekxandra. It is my understanding that a full name has more meaning and charm, Alekxandra. Also, you can keep any of the meat you don’t use. I just wanted one good meal from it, is all. Consider it a greeting gift.” Epifanio walked over to the pot that was simmering and observed it for a moment. “Could this use some meat in it?” He asked kindly. It smelled wonderful and surely it was already mostly cooked. He didn’t know if by the time the meat would finish cooking in it if the other ingredients would lose their taste or form.

Epifanio walked back over to Alekxandra and observe her cutting up the meat. By this time she had already made swift work of separating ribs from spine. Something only a sharp blade could push through, but Epifanio nonetheless graced her once again with a compliment. “My, you work the knife wonderfully! It’s almost artistic. You know, I consider myself a bit artistic as well.” Epifanio was quick at trying to reel in to see if Alekxandra was interested in himself. Should she respond he might turn the conversation about himself, or continue to find things that more interest the fine lady.


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[Alekxandra Winterflame]

”In the mood for a nightly snack I take it?” Alek teased lightly at the sound of the man’s stomach. Though his next mark had her snorting in a rather unlady like way. If her mother had been awake Alek was sure she would have gotten a rather stern talking to over her behavior.

”The further you try and flatter her, the more likely you’ll be glared at.” Alek spared her own glance at the old woman but it seemed as if she was purposely ignoring the both of them at the moment. All the better as she wasn’t in the mood for further scolding.

”But it was a fine attempt at that.” Better than anything she could put together at any rate. Alek let out a low chuckle at his idea of charm–or in the very least that her name might add charm to herself anyway.

”More charm huh? Well charm is probably not one of the things most people would use to describe me.” Alek turned to look over at the stewing pot that he currently stood over and wrinkled her nose a little.

”It most certainly could. Though I’m afraid it might be a touch over seasoned. But the hare should give it a nice flavor. It’s a shame it won’t have more time to stew slowly though. But this meat should be more than enough for it. There won’t be much left. Maybe I can get someone to use it up as jerky for later.”

As she finished splitting the spine, she went to work on separating the legs from the rest as well. This was far more tricky in her opinion as she was rather unpracticed at working with meat that wasn’t already sectioned off. At the mention of how well she could handle a knife, Alek grinned at the him.

”Well learning how to use a knife is one of the first things you learn. I suppose very much like any other instrument, musical or not.”

Lifting the back legs she gripped one and made slight slices at the joint. Carefully she twisted the leg in an attempt to pop it out of the socket, but the leg refused to separate. Grumbling under her breath, she realized she had not made the slices deep enough. The tendons still held to the meat together stubbornly.

”Good thing this is for stew. I’m not very skilled at working with animals whole yet.” Using the knife she cut the remaining tendons away, before taking the rib sections she had freed from the hind legs and carefully dropped them into the stew. With a satisfied nod she began to cut through the thin bone of the hock on the hind legs.

”So what sort of artist are you then? Obviously a fairly skilled hunter, but since I don’t get much time to admire others work myself.” Adding the thigh meat to the stew, Alek gave it a small stir before turning to the man.

”And you know, you still haven’t introduced yourself yet. Some might think it rude.” She teased, pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the elderly woman still shuffling amidst the back of the kitchen to herself.

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Title
Date

Epifanio stood there listening and watching the beautiful red head for quite some time. He was almost entranced by her work in the kitchen, but mostly his eyes glazed over with hunger. She made for a decent enough distraction. “Most definitely am in the mood. I’m famished!” He said in response to her tease.

“Ah, I don’t mind her, nothing I can’t handle at least. I’m sure some kind words and a light heart might turn her mood around. I know why not offer her some of your food once finished?” He said with a smile.

Epifanio didn’t much know of cooking, but he did have a passion to learn that as well. He watched over Alek carefully, and was in awe. This was a totally different scene than his usual in snowsong hall or the red diamond tavern. It was also a welcome difference. He enjoyed his time here, even if it was late in the night and he was hungry. “So the knife is like an extension of yourself. You must be a very sharp individual.” He smirked at the joke and watched as she twisted the leg to pop it of its socket. It almost felt as if his own charm and compliments were misplaced during this grisly time. It wasn’t in the least a romantic scene, least not to him.

“I am sure you will get better, besides you are far better than I ever could be at that, I am sure.” He said softly as approaching her and standing behind her back fairly close to observe what she was doing. He felt much like the rabbit who was annoying him by burrowing a home next to his room. Following her around the kitchen as if on a leash. He was full of questions and wanted to say so much, but it felt so out of place. He couldn’t keep his mind of track. “Oh, I am not really a skilled hunter. I just get lucky from time to time, I guess.” He laughed. “This hare was literally right outside my room, and was being a fiend. I didn’t have to track it or anything, so it was an easy kill.” Epifanio wanted to be honest with her for some reason.

Normally he would exaggerate a story and make himself look exceptional through his stories, but he was far too drained and distracted by Alek to really craft up such a story. “I am a bard, actually. I sing, dance, act, and play instruments.” As he stood closer behind Alek he watched as she made quick work of adding meat to the stew. “Wouldn’t adding the meat settle some of the seasonings, I would think? Either way, your cooking would always be perfect enough for me, I am sure.” He smiled once more and just as that smile came it fell as she mentioned of forgetting to introduce himself. In an eager act of embarrassment he bowed and held his head down until he would get acknowledged.

“I am Epifanio Snowsong, of the Snowsong Hold, and I work at the Red Diamond Tavern as a Bard. A sort of entertainer of sort!”

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

At the thought of offering the older woman a taste of her food Alek once again let out a snort that was rather unladylike. The idea was sweet enough to be sure, but Alek highly doubted that the elder Winterflame would try her food outside of so called constructive criticism sake.

”You are more than welcome to try, but Sophya and I both know just where that little adventure will take us. Her and I are rather creatures of the night. She doesn’t sleep well and I… well I am rather tuned for hunting into to the wee hours of the night.” Alek gave a slight shrug with one shoulder as she moved to the front legs one the remaining slab of hare. She twisted roughly with these as they rotated in their joint in a much larger range than the hind.

”That’s not to say I don’t respect her of course. By this point we both know what to expect from the other. We don’t often tread on the other’s toes unless I am the one in need of help.” Alek put to use the knife again, separating the tendons before repeating to the other leg until they came free. The front legs held very little meat to them so she tossed them into a scrap pile that had been on the table even before she had arrived in the kitchen. She had little doubt that she’d be the one responsible for cleaning it up however.

”Plus outside of telling me what I’m doing wrong, Sophya would never eat my cooking. A sharp individual she would not count me as.” Alek giggled, sticking out her tongue a little with another shrug. Taking her knife she lined her knife just behind the head of the hare. With her free hand she carefully placed it on top of the other before pressing down hard to ensure the head separated from the remaining ribs with a grunt.

As she leaned back from the table from her effort she bumped right into Epifanio. Letting out a small squeak she whirled around to face him trying very hard not to touch the last slice of ribs against him while trying to get her balance, obviously being surprised with how close he was. It wasn’t something she was used to outside of her family and his closeness caused a rush of blood straight to her cheeks before she could get control of herself.

”Sorry…” Her voice came out in almost a squeak and she cringed, closing her eyes in embarrassment. She took a moment, remaining still to gather herself up before opening her eyes and studiously avoiding his gaze as she stepped around him. She tried to put her focus back on the stew and not her bumbling misstep by clearing her throat.

”Well I’d say this hare was rather unlucky wasn’t it? Wrong place, wrong time and all that.” She carefully dropped the ribs into the stew trying to avoid anything from splashing up and gave it another good stir before finally having the courage to face the man again as he bowed and introduced himself.

”Epifanio the bard huh? It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the tavern actually since I started work at the commons. I might have to visit sometime.” Pushing the crock a little closer to the fire, Alek tilted her head as stew bubbled faster.

”Lucky for us it won’t take long for this fella to cook. The stew was almost ready before we added him. Sadly the seasoning will probably stay pretty strong though, since we don’t have hours on end to let the meat simmer slowly with the stew.” With a shrug she made her way to two clean buckets of water kept along the side of the table and dipped her hands into one of them before picking up the bar of soap lying next to the bucket and began to scrub her hands.

”There are bowls just underneath the island table there. We might have to pick the meat off the bones, but it shouldn’t be fairly difficult. Those hind legs will probably be best.” She wiggled her brows a little for emphasis before dipping her hands into the second bucket to rinse her hands clean. Shaking her fingers off from water she returned to the fire and leaned up against the brick next to it and crossed her arms over chest.

”So what do you prefer to do as a bard? Sing, act, story-tell? I mean I’m all for a good story, but do any of them hold truth to them?”

[Epifanio Snowsong]

⇜ Title and Date ⇝

Epifanio was a great listener, and while hearing Alek talk about Sophya he was starting to pick up on some things. He was most interested in the fact of her being a creature of the night. At first his mind went dirty until she mentioned hunting wee hours of the night. Although a bit tired and hungry an idea popped into his head. What if he could invite her on a hunt, just the two of them, tonight? The idea crossed his mind until it was quickly interrupted by her mentioning of Sophya not thinking she was sharp.

It seemed that her relationship was a negative one within the hold, but that didn’t matter to him, not in the least. As she bumped into Epifanio in surprise and turned around to face him he gentle grabbed ahold of her arms with both hands. His touch was soft and reassuring. Staring into her eyes he said “Are you alright?” and let his grip go when she said sorry. “Never be sorry to me Alek. It’s alright, really. If anything I should be sorry.” He said with soft spoken and moistened lips.

The kitchen was starting to get hot as such he maneuvered his arms in a way to get his coat off. In doing so a little bit of his shirt rode up revealing his musculature. A slightly hairy chest, but defined stomach and pectorals. As pulling down his shirt to a more appropriate standing he asked “there a place I could set this?” After getting permission to set his coat down somewhere he would fold it neatly and set it in place then walk back to Alek and grabbed a few bowls and set them on the prepping table.

“If you have an extra apron or something I don’t mind helping in picking the meat. You could show me how, right?” He said diligently. He was excited to help cook with her. “Oh right…” He said before walking back over to the buckets of water and soap. “Should probably clean my hands as well.” Kneeling down before the buckets he lathered up his hands considerably with the soap and then looked up to Alek as she asked what he prefers to do as a bard. While washing off the suds and taking his time he said “Well, I can do a bit of all, but I prefer singing and playing on Eisen, my Gamba. As far as stories go, most lose their truth, but the best stories… well sometimes even the stars dance to their tales.”

Epifanio’s eyes twinkled at the mention of telling a good story. His smile was intoxicatingly mischievous, but Alek wouldn’t get what he meant by stars dancing to tales most likely. “You see; a great story involves conflict. It has passion and strife. It has love and hate. There is this one story that Every 1st of spring when Morwen returns and the great festival is celebrating, midnight shows of a shooting star which lights the palace a bright. Once a child decided to wish upon that star wanting to live out a life filled with love. When she came of age she happily married to another hold and lived that life full of love and had many children who continued to share that love.

It wasn’t a life of love just for another, but love which was showed to everyone. In her old age everyone knew of her generosity and loving nature. Many would flock to her for advice and to share in her wisdom. On her dying breath she told one last words of advice – to make a fruitful wish upon the shooting star which graces Morwens palace.” Epifanio took a pause and stood up to stand right beside Alek once again. “I would like to think such stories are true. What about you Alek? Perhaps after done cooking we could go outside and watch to see if the stars really do dance while eating… and after words maybe go for a hunt?”

“I would like to see this… creature of the night.”
oocI assume you mean by picking the meat it would be picking meat from the bones and placing it back into the stew

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello

[Alekxandra Winterflame]

As Epifanio pulled his coat off, her eyes scanned the flash of skin he exposed. He wasn’t the first male she had seen shirtless, but she had to admit he was certainly one of the best looking. She could feel another blush threaten to flush her cheeks so she faced the stew in hopes that she could blame the heat of the fire this time.

”There is a table and some spare hooks on the wall farthest from the tables that should have plenty of room for your stuff.” Alek spoke loudly as she feigned stirring the stew again. It looked as though the meat was cooking fairly quickly and she estimated it would only be a few chimes before they could retrieve the meat from the stew to pull it from the bones. Epifanio’s question about a spare apron finally pulled her from the fire.

”I’m sure there might be a spare apron still abandoned on one of the other prep tables. Someone always forgets to take them with. Though they might not smell the best.” She shot him an apologetic smile before moving to the table to snag one of the bowls and returned to the fire. Stirring the meat a little she fetched the three sets of ribs first before fetching the two hind legs. Her nose picked out the scent of lemon she had added to the stew, still a little overpowering, but it smelled delicious otherwise.

”So the meat isn’t completely cooked yet, but it will be hot so be careful.” As Epifanio washed his hands she fetched another two sharp paring knives that would make cleaning the meat from the bone a little easier. Alek would have prefered to let the meat fall from the bone with proper cooking, but she had no desire to wait until nearly noon bell for that to happen. Once Epifanio joined her she handed him one of the knives and stood next to him nearly shoulder to shoulder.

”It really isn’t too hard to remove the meat from the bones. The hind legs will be more difficult however. Just run the paring knife along the bone slowly and try not to puncture or splinter the bone into the meat. Just be wary because the meat will not resist much. We don't need you cutting yourself.” Picking up with deft fingers one of the rib sections she placed it on the table in front of him followed by a leg. She emptied the rest of the bowl in front of her before setting it off to the side.

Lifting one set of ribs Alek showed by example, slowly using the sharp utensil to slide along the bone of the first rib. The meat gave little resistance and she repeated the motion from left to right along the bone until she could wiggle the rib free. The meat itself mostly remained intact, but she took the paring knife and sliced it in two before moving it to the bowl she had used to fetch the meat in the first place.

”You named your instrument?” Alek asked with amusement. She had heard of such things, but she had never truly understood the reasoning behind naming an inanimate object. Alek could hardly imagining herself naming a knife, but she supposed an instrument could be far more valuable to someone personally than a knife.

She narrowed her eyes playfully as Epifanio grinned at her. The kind of smile that could spell trouble–after all she was usually the one using it to cause such trouble. He wove the tale of a woman wishing upon a star and finding love in every corner of her life. It was a beautiful tale despite the fact that Alek did not believe the star alone was responsible for the woman’s happy life. She pursed her lips slightly at the thought before taking the bowl of meat she had finished stripping from the bones and added it to the stew once again.

”Honestly? I don’t believe that the stars gave her the life she wished for. It’s a beautiful tale but I believe in finding such things on one’s own, without expecting someone or something else to fulfill a wish for it.” Alek stated simply, hoping that she did not offend him with her blunt opinion. She was well known to do so at times so she gave him a small smile in offering.

”As much fun as a hunt sounds… I’m not sure you could keep up with me.” She jabbed in challenge as she pushed off the wall. Alek was quite positive the man had no idea she was Kelvic and it represented the rare chance to catch someone off guard. She always enjoyed knocking people off their feet–even if it was only figuratively.

”I may not be much for watching stars dance, but I do rather enjoy a good aurora… especially when it has red streaked through it.” Wiggling her eyebrows she smirked brightly at Epifanio.

”I’m not sure you know what you're asking for Epifanio.”

[Epifanio Snowsong]

⇜ Title and Date ⇝

After folding up his coat and setting it on the table as opposed to placing it on the hook Epifanio grabbed the apron along the way. She was right, it did smell of a sort of food, but he didn’t mind. As walking back over to the prepping table he gently touched upon her waist while gliding his hand around her back before lifting it off of her body to get her attention. “So the knife aids in gathering more meat from the bones?”

Epifanio stood at the table next to Alek and observed her as she used to the knife to separate meat from the bone. Rather than picking up a rib he went from the hind leg. The meat was mostly on the hind section of the leg, and by gripping the feet portion of the leg cut into the meat downward and away from himself as to not slip. He didn’t want to risk cutting himself or Alek should the knife slip. After wiggling around the meat on the table, the knife did slip a few times causing the meat to be cut, but it simply glided down into the table.

“This is tricky.” He said as he went back to the other side of the leg and did the same thing. Eventually the meat was separated from the bone, but was still connected due to a tendon that held the meat to the leg. Rather than cutting the tendon its he laid the leg down on the table and pulled the meat away from the bone of the leg and cut it to where the tendon met the meat. Grabbing ahold of the meat with his clean hands he noticed that his apron had come untied and dangled from his neck almost getting in the way. He didn’t want to stop preparing the meat so he just continued anyways. All while fighting with the laces to get them out of the way.

The meat was hot, but he braced through the heat and gently massaged it to feel if there were any splinters of bones or tendons in it. After finding some cartilage that had failed to be cut loose from the meat he cut it free and placed the meat into the preparation bowl. “I hope that is good enough.” He said plainly while smiling and looking at Alek.

“Yeah, I named my instrument.” Epifanio slightly blushed a bit and shared a cheeky smile, not knowing of what she would think of such a thing. In the least he was a bit embarrassed. “It might be true that the stars didn’t give her the life. Though, I would like to believe that it helped her on her journey. Just making a wish is not enough. I believe in hard work just as much as any other man. Though, one could dream. A hunter could sit for hours hoping that eventually an animal would come across that he could kill. Though, if he doesn’t move in search of it, he will never find it.”

Epifanio spoke from a bit of experience. If he had just staying in his room instead of going outside to see it then he would have never met Alek. “If I had never left my room, I would have never met you.” He said with a soft voice.

After she had mentioned that he couldn’t keep up with her the bard was intrigued. “Oh?” The bard grabbed another piece of meat to remove some bones. This time looking down at the meat he shared a silent smirk once again.

His intention of his previous statement of wanting to see a creature of the night would remain but a mystery. If anything else, he enjoyed the play at Alek. Hoping that somehow, it would tease her. Taking that tease a bit further he simply stated “Besides, you would be surprised at how long I could last.”

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