anewlanguage | video; spam

[Cain has flour on his cheek, and he's in the kitchen, taking a break.] Y'know, worldwide there's room for comfort food after a real shitty day. I'm takin' requests.

Me, I always went for pierogis. Stayed in Poland just long enough to learn how to make 'em. [And to kill a diplomat. But. You know.] Kid seemed to like 'em pretty well, too. Pretty sure tastes change, though...

Anyway, give 'em here, give me all your requests.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

deadly_ned

I'll teach you how to make a cake-pie.

And I want you to give it to your daughter.

From:

anewlanguage

Don't think she'd take it from me, kid. [But hell, it's worth a shot. If nothing else, he's sure Iris and Dean would eat cake-pie.]

Come on down, my shift just started.

From:

deadly_ned

I...usually take an early morning shift so we must. Keep...missing each other.

Although I have to say I like the way you clean your kitchen. It's very.

It's neat.

...I'll just be. Coming downstairs now.

From:

anewlanguage

Won't be for long, I'm going to start workin' doubles.

[And he'll have a plate of pierogis waiting for Ned.]

From:

deadly_ned

Why are you starting to work doubles?

[The Piemaker arrives in short order, tall and awkwardly hugging his elbows and peering over the plate of pierogis]

...Hello.

From:

anewlanguage

[By the time Ned's there, he's turned off his device and he's whistling.]

Hey. I'm takin' double shifts because I can't seem to find enough to do. It's this and drinking.

Go ahead, try one.

From:

deadly_ned

[Dropping into a seat, the Piemaker picks up a fork, cuts one in half, and brings it to his mouth]

I prefer this to drinking.

What's in them?

From:

anewlanguage

Good man, I do too. Least I try to tell myself I do. [He laughs dryly]

Those are cheese and potato, fresh off the pan.

From:

deadly_ned

[In response, the Piemaker gives a helpless grin of his own, not quite certain of himself. He's never ever really been a drinker, too afraid of revealing his secret while inebriated]

Cheese and potato. It's. It's nice.

My, um. My girlfriend makes cheese.

From:

anewlanguage

She makes cheese? [He wags a wooden spoon at him] Hang onto her, that's a skill you can't hardly find anywhere these days.

You're a baker, is that right? What's your name?

From:

deadly_ned

Thank you. I...plan to. She also does...very nice bee-keeping. Honey and cheese.

Piemaker. It's more...specific than baker, I don't do cookies or...cake.

My name is Ned.

From:

anewlanguage

She on board, or waiting for you back home?

[He wipes his hand on the damp towel he has handy, and holds it out]

David Cain. Nice to meet you. I've been wanting to meet some people who can do more'n shoot a gun for a while.

From:

deadly_ned

She's waiting. We, um. We sat down together, and we talked about it, and we decided...I should be the one to come to the Barge instead of her. She's...taking charge of the restaurant while I'm gone.

[The Piemaker, as a rule, did not like to touch other people - especially people he wasn't quite sure weren't dead. He looked at David Cain's hand and his smile visibly faded.

But the man was breathing. There was a warm glow in his cheeks. He was living.

So the Piemaker shook the living man's hand]

I don't think I've ever shot a gun so you....have me beat, there. Here. Here and there.

From:

anewlanguage

Not sure I'd call it being beat. But then, I'm a pacifist now.

[He smiles slightly--don't mind the scars on his face, his hands, his arms]

Tell me 'bout this cake-pie. Like I said she's probably not gonna take it from me...but if she knows who you are maybe she will. If we leave it sneaky-like.

From:

deadly_ned

[The Piemaker too was a pacifist and had been for the vast majority of his life. But as he observed the scars of David Cain, he arrived at the realization that there were, perhaps, two kinds of scarring. The sort you could see, and the sort you couldn't.

David Cain seemed to have both, but the Piemaker didn't like to pry. All people have their secrets, and it was rude to go looking when not invited inside]

It's...actually more of a cookie...cake pie.

The bottom layer is made from cookie dough, filled with cake batter, topped with pie crust.

[He holds up one finger at a time, arriving at three fingers held up at the end]

Cookie. Cake. Pie.

From:

anewlanguage

[Cain might have answered questions (he usually won't), but he feels so wrung out and carved up and bewildered that he's grateful for something like pie to talk about.]

Never had anything like it! I've got a couple apologies to make, if Cassandra doesn't want it I know someone who will.

[He gets some ingredients, but he's watching Ned discreetly.]

You're the first guy I met who made the decision to come here with a partner's say-so. Does she know what you're bartering with the Admiral for?

From:

deadly_ned

I don't..usually make it. Except on special occasions, for special people. It's...sort of sacrilegious in inner baking circles.

[The Piemaker, in turn, begins to gather ingredients from the opposite side of the kitchen]

She does. It was her suggestion I come here and...do this. It's a shared problem.

From:

anewlanguage

[He smiles. Right now, it's sort of a relief to hear that somewhere in the world people still cooperate.]

You have an inmate yet?

From:

deadly_ned

I do. His name is Thomas. He...we....don't get out much.

I've been trying to fix that lately but we're both very introverted people so it's...hard.

From:

anewlanguage

Yeah, I haven't heard of him.

You don't come out for baking?

From:

deadly_ned

He's a quiet person.

I do. I do come out for baking, but I have an oven in my room so really it's just a matter of coming....here for ingredients.

But I've been making an honest effort.

[He begins cracking eggs one-handed, whisking them up in a bowl]

From:

anewlanguage

[Cain nods, watching, thinking.]

Y'could forget the oven in your place and come cook out here when I'm on shift. Or just off shift, probably better.

From:

deadly_ned

I could. But I think the kitchen jobs are reserved for inmates. I don't want to scalp other people's responsibilities.

From:

anewlanguage

So we'll make it a social thing. Just you an' me, in our off time when no one's using this place. Besides, you probably shouldn't let people see you hanging around with me anyway.