(no subject)

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Characters: Champloo and Open (with a thread closed to Pinkie Pie)
Location: The Cafeteria (and the Home Ec classroom)
Rating: PG?
Open/Closed/Finshed: Open
Summary: Unsurprisingly, Champloo remembered very keenly the offworld holiday that required cooking an obscenely large feast.



A year or two ago -- Champloo couldn't quite remember which, since as a demon years seemed much shorter than they did to a human -- someone had introduced the concept of a Thanksgiving feast to Garden. The introduction hadn't been perfect, of course. Champloo had no idea of the precise schedule the holiday was supposed to follow, but that didn't matter, did it? The important thing was that friends and family gathered around a well-laden table to stuff themselves silly and be grateful for all the good things they had in life.

To the Home Ec Instructor, such a holiday was the very flavor of perfection.

Thus on this day, beginning with lunch and carrying on late into the evening, those Garden residents who sought out their meal in the cafeteria would find not the standard lines awaiting the perpetually short-supplied hot dogs and sundry other meals, but tables piled high with all the treats of Thansgiving. Roast turkey and stuffing, cornbread and green bean casserole, salad and cranberry sauce, gravy and pies of all flavors and sizes. Champloo himself zipped about, passing out plates and silverware and cups, pouring wine and juice, and explaining the purpose behind the feast in food-metaphor-laden terms.

For a couple of hours in the evening, though, the demon chef went absent. He left behind plenty of food for the residents to carry on in their revelry, but he wanted a more private dinner with a certain someone...

Comments

[laughafterme]

Pinkie remembered something about Thanksgiving, but it got mixed up with Hearth's Warming Eve and now Pinkie was carrying around a ginormous sack full of presents. She was giving out presents as thanks to her friends, so...Thanksgiving!

She easily found Champloo, though. A gift wrapped in yellow wrapping and a red trimmings was dangling above his head cheerfully! As if there was any other way to dangle a present.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Champloo looked up at the present, then turned to face the woman offering it with a broad grin. "Hyahya, I expected you would remember this holiday as well!"

Wait, had presents been a part of it before? He didn't recall if they had been or not -- his memory has really focused entirely on the whole 'feast' aspect of it, quite understandably.

Well, no sense worrying about it now. He took the present, then placed his free arm around Pinkie and gestured ahead of him into the classroom. There, he had set up a private table just for the two of them, in the most classic style -- fine white tablecloth, elegant wine glasses, flowers as a centerpiece which he'd specifically ordered just for the purpose.

"And here is my present to you, if you will allow me to have an evening with you!"

[laughafterme]

"It's a great holiday! A bit early, though, but that's alright!"

The present was just a picture of them from last year's Homecoming Dance, but she decorated the frame with various things. Letters, flowers, jewels, buttons that were shiny, tiny ribbons...it was all very Pinkie! That year she had won the crown of Homecoming Queen, and she enjoyed it because it was sparkly and shiny.

She leaned into him and looked ahead, surprised to see a well set up table there. Was it always there? She was sure it wasn't.

"You got me a table and flowers?" Not that she was ungrateful, but Pinkie wasn't sure what she could do with it in her room.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"I was never certain on the timing," Champloo admitted with a completely unconcerned shrug. The sentiment was important, not the moment! "As for what I obtained for you, the table is merely a place to sit, so that I might serve you a meal I cooked with particular care and pride! The flowers, however, are yours to do with as you wish."

Really, she couldn't have gotten him a more delightful present. A picture that showed them together? She might as well have combined flour and eggs, for it was an excellent match!

[laughafterme]

"Really? I thought timing was everything..." Pinkie now looked unsure herself. Jokes needed the right timing for them to be funny, of course!

At hearing that the flowers were for her and the table wasn't the gift, Pinkie walked over to the table, tugging him along. "They're really pretty! Did you pick them yourself?" Once she reached the table, Pinkie looked over all of them, wondering how long they would last in her room.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"Timing is certainly one grand element of all things -- but if you wait for the perfect moment, you risk seeing it only in the crumbs of the previous course. This is close enough, and in this case, close enough is good enough."

Champloo pulled back a chair for her, bowing her into it with a flourish. "I am afraid these flowers were ordered, not hand-picked. My effort was spent on the meal, which I think you will agree is worth it."

[laughafterme]

She didn't understand the first part, but she did understand the second, so she was alright with just that.

Pinkie giggled at the bow before sitting down. "But you cook all the time! You should pick out he flowers by hand next time!" She held up her pinkie finger to him. "You'll have to Pinkie Promise!"

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"If that is what will make you happy, then I shall do it," Champloo vowed, meeting her pinkie with his. "On our next dinner together, I will provide flowers selected by hand!"

[laughafterme]

Pinkie smiled and squeezed his pinkie with hers. Really, he was such a sweet man.

"Should I ask when the next dinner will be?! I don't think I can wait that long for hand-picked flowers!"

[om_nom_namur]

All that food made for a strange assortment of smells Namur wasn't used to smelling in the halls. And while it didn't appeal to his stomach, per se, it certainly appealed to his sense of curiosity. What the hell was going on?

Namur remembered the last time he'd wandered into a room that smelled this heavily of human food, so it was with caution that he approached the cafeteria, entering as inconspicuously as he could manage and hanging back next to the wall to watch. Sure enough, Chammy was there, busy as a ship's cook. What was it about cooks and fussing over everybody when they're trying to eat? Namur didn't get it, and probably never would. He chuckled quietly, folded his arms, and leaned back a little sideways to the wall, squinting a bit to watch people moving back and forth and picking up bits of intelligible conversation from all over the room, though none of it made any sense without context.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Oh, it's that large shark person that had entertained certain levels of jealousy towards him! Champloo turned, coincidentally brandishing a chef's knife.

"Welcome to Garden's Thanksgiving feast! Have you come to partake?"

[om_nom_namur]

"Never heard a that," Namur only looks slightly less confused. "Some kind a holiday, huh? From yer world?" They certainly never did anything like this in Trabia, he would have remembered.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Champloo grinned broad, folding his arms. "It is a holiday taught to me by a fellow offworlder, one which remained in my head quite firmly. In it, people gather about a feast to give thanks for the many things they are grateful for! Such a perfect holiday would be unheard of in the Netherworld!"

[om_nom_namur]

"Figures y'd talk sense 'bout food an' whaleshit 'bout everythin' else," Namur smirked. "Like the sound a this thing, though. Not too far off a what we'd do as a crew after nastyass fights, sheheheh! Got any fish?"

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"As it was described to me, the centerpiece of this holiday is a cooked stuffed fowl." Champloo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "However, there is so much food besides that, I do not believe fish is enjoined. Shall I cook some?"

[om_nom_namur]

"Ehh, not if y' ain't already done it," he ran his hand over the back of his head. "Already told y' raw's better anyway. Got more life in 'em when y' swallow 'em whole still flippin' their fins, sheheheh! Might bring my crew down though. They'd love this."

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Champloo had absolutely no qualms about Namur's preferences except that it really was very little challenge for a chef to prepare.

"You should come not just for the food, but also for the sentiment! Both are vital ingredients in the final holiday blend!"

[ascendit]

It's been a few years since Nate celebrated Thanksgiving, and the orphanage's approach was to simply put out a turkey. But that didn't mean he didn't recognize the feast when he saw it: Some of the boys who were older when they came in would whine about how their families celebrated it, or sometimes they'd catch a glimpse of it on TV.

This was more than he'd seen on TV, more than he'd let himself imagine from the other boys' stories. And it was something he'd never expected here.

"Thanksgiving isn't till Thursday," he blurted out, even as he reached for a plate.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"Ah, you are familiar with the holiday! The precise timing was never made entirely clear to me. However, is the spirit not the important part of any designated day such as this?" Champloo nodded to the food, fully expecting agreement since Nate was overtly tucking in.

[ascendit]

"Nah, I think the food's the important part," Nate replied, matter-of-fact. His time on the streets had made food the important part of most things, and he'd never felt like he had much to be thankful for.

But he wouldn't mind starting with being thankful for this feast. He'd never tried half of these dishes, and he was having a difficult time piling a bit of everything on his plate.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"I won't deny that I'm rather fond of that part myself," Champloo said as he merrily moved more dishes in Nate's direction. Eat! Feast! Come back for seconds if need be! "But can you explain the precise timing in greater detail?"

[ascendit]

"It's the fourth Thursday in November," Nate says, placing his overloaded plate on a nearby table and going back for cutlery. "I forgot why."

It was one era of history he hadn't been particularly interested in - it wasn't nearly exciting enough for him.

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

"Based on day rather than date?" Champloo frowned as he rubbed his chin with his thumb and extended finger. "An unusual temperature for the over to be set to! But I shall remember this for the future."

[ascendit]

Nate simply nodded as he started shoveling food into his mouth. Some habits were hard to break.

After a few mouthfuls, he looked up at Champloo again. "Do you cook for other holidays too? Because this is good."

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Champloo had busied himself making careful adjustments to some of the other platters, to accommodate the food that had been taken from them. Presentation is important, after all!

"Cooking is life, therefore life is cooking, therefore: I cook as often as possible, to further my study of the Kitchen Fist!"