strangetrip | [OTA] comfort foods

Emma had spent more of the last four days in front of a fire with her cards than she wanted to admit to herself. She wouldn't even let herself think what Sabine or Dani would've said if they'd seen her. When not there, she'd been curled up in a blanket nest she made in one of the twin beds upstairs, crying until she felt dryer than the desert outside. It still felt too empty to sleep until exhaustion didn't leave her a choice, but it was better than the king bed would've been. She'd left that for her roommate. He'd been back sometime while she was upstairs, gotten his bag, and left again. That was okay. She didn't really want to people, and she'd only hurt him with her face, and her not knowing what to say or not make things worse just by existing.

Four days of only leaving the room long enough to get a bite to eat she wouldn't even taste was ridiculous, and when lying there unable to sleep got to be too much, she showered and dressed. Chop vegetables, boil water, Dani would've said. Shortly before dawn, the hotel kitchen was empty. Emptier than the castle's would've probably been that time of night.

With no appetite, she looked at what was available to decide where to start. Plenty of venison... a confit maybe, since it was so early, and would take time to cook. Once that was in the oven, she was lost for a moment, and grabbed a bag of onions. If a few tears formed as she sliced them thin, it was just the onions, that was all, and once she started them caramelizing, she felt steadier, and maybe ready to think of eating herself eventually. Soup later, from the onions.

Aligot. That was what she wanted. So she gathered her ingredients, and started to peel potatoes, dropping them whole into water with lemon juice. By the time sounds of the inn started to filter through, and others came into the kitchen she had more potatoes than she had any need for, and she started thinking of all the ways she could use them, each dish sounding as welcome as the last. Putting the peeled potatoes in the walk-in to keep cool, she went looking for a small chalkboard she'd seen in the café. In neat even letters, she wrote:

Today's Specials

Potatoes All Day

Latkes
6-11AM
Gratin Dauphinois
11AM-3PM
Raclette
3PM-7PM
Tartiflette
7PM-10PM
Aligot
12N-1PM, 8-9PM
Disco Fries
all day, made on order

DINNER SPECIAL

Confit de Venaison, Pané

Soupes du Jour
Potato Leek
French Onion

She added some scrolling designs in the margins and looked over her work. That would keep her busy. Busy was good. Feeding people, feeling like she was doing something useful, that was even better.

((OOC: Find Emma in the kitchens or the café, any time throughout the day. She's shy and sad, but always willing to talk about food, and willing to take requests.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Liz didn't mind trying to find other people who might be more in charge here and she nodded at the suggestion. "Yeah... the man at the front of the desk is... um. Well, he kind of creeps me out." Even though he seemed really nice. "Did you just start to cook here then? On your own?"

The girl was young. And as new as Emma in this strange place, and it was strange. Emma didn't blame her for missing things when she just wanted someone who could tell her what to do. "Nobody's kicked me out yet." She shrugged. "I'm used to a pretty communal kitchen, and there aren't as many people here as at home." If you counted hospital staff and everyone, at least.

"Do you live in a dorm?" This was what she thought about first and she hoped maybe she was right - Liz always liked hearing about what university was like.

"Not since I dropped out of convent school, and that was years ago." Emma had hated living in the dorms. No space that was truly hers, no friends for safety in numbers.

"Dr. MacTaggart turned one wing of her castle into a hospital, the other wing – and the village – into a sanctuary. My cousin was in the hospital for awhile, and then we stayed on after."

Her eyes widened a bit. "Castle? You live in a castle?" And then the rest of what Emma said hit her and she gave a bit of a concerned expression. "Is your cousin okay?"

It took Emma a couple of seconds to realize what the girl meant, and also that she still didn't know her name. "Hm? Oh. Yeah. That was a couple of years ago. She moved to London about a month ago to be with her boyfriend. I was on my way to visit when I ended up here. I'm Emma, by the way. I didn't get your name."

"I'm Liz. It's nice to meet you. And, um. I'm glad your cousin is okay." Liz realized that was kind of weird, but she said so anyways and then smiled sheepishly to try and cover up how ridiculous she felt. "I've never been to a castle before. We don't really have them in Roswell."

"No, castles aren't what Roswell's known for." Not in Emma's world at least. Aliens were though, not that Emma had met more than one, and she wasn't going to ask if Liz had known any. "New Mexico has some pretty country, though. We drove through it once, before we left the States."

"Have you traveled a lot?" Liz looked interested. She hadn't really traveled much herself and she had always wanted to. "I haven't been out of New Mexico ever. At least, not yet. I'd like to go to other places."

"Now you have. Technically." Although she wasn't sure how much it counted when you couldn't go anywhere.

"I lived in the US for about ten years, and visited a good swath of the south and southwest. Europe was easier." Emma would have to think about it if she tried to list all the places she and Sabine had gone in Europe. "But that's it."

Liz laughed a little. "I guess you're right. Though I can't seem to escape the desert."

She was definitely envious of the girl's travel. "I bet Europe is really pretty." The idea of saying in Roswell where Max was and she couldn't be with him was looking less and less attractive.

"My friend Alex wants to go to Sweden"

"We went to Uppsala once. I spent days in the university library." Partially because Emma loved libraries as much as Sabine did. Mostly because they needed to 'borrow' one of its incunabula long enough to help a ghost move on.

"Beauty's where you look for it. There are lots of amazing views across Europe, same as in the US, and just as varied. Here too, although I'll admit I haven't done much looking yet."

"Me either." She admitted. "I'm told you can walk for four hours before you can't go any further but... going that far in the wilderness seems..." She shrugged a bit, hesitant for just a moment. "well, scary."

Emma hadn't had what most would call an average adolescence. She'd gone off on her own in what should've been scary ways when she was Liz's age or younger, without anyone thinking twice about it. And she didn't think she was all that brave, just prepared usually. "It's maybe not the smartest thing to do alone, except for people used to the desert and able to take care of themselves."

If she tried testing the four hour limit, which seemed strange on so many levels, but she really didn't know much about magic, she would probably fly. And still make sure she had water and her tarot decks with her.

Liz was more aware that things could be dangerous here than back home which was ridiculous when she really thought about it because her life could sometimes be plenty dangerous. She knew aliens, after all. She was thankful she had met some nice people here in the inn so she did have a network of people now which felt comforting. She nodded in agreement.

"So, um... do you need any help?" She looked over at the food. She could help prepare things - she did that a lot. "Or not. I get wanting some space and stuff."

"Thanks. I think I've got it. I can get into the zone, knowing what to do when, and getting things timed just right." She had practice cooking with – Mémé, Sister Thérèse, Sabine, Dani, Sarah – or putting people to work on simpler tasks. But the meditative aspects of cooking were easier done alone, and Emma liked not having to think about anything other than what she was doing.

"Okay. Well, then I'll let you get back to it then. It was nice meeting you, Emma." She smiled and lifted a hand in a small wave.

[OTA] comfort foods

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