Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
It had been a little while since Gabe had come down to Pine Town. He had to be rather deliberate with his time, and the last few weeks had been nothing if not chaotic. Still, his new farm had produced some interesting results, and he remembered a certain someone there liked cooking a lot. He hoped he’d appreciate them.
The restaurant had imprinted itself on Gabe’s mind since the incident, and while he wasn’t looking forward to any of the awkward tension that had been there to begin with, he did need to find Koray discretely. This was sort of a surprise, after all. It went well the first time after all…
Setting the bag down discretely as he entered the restaurant, Gabe started walking around with just the usual bag at his side- that day squished a little tighter than usual with two eggs inside, one in each corner. As a hostess asked if he wanted to be seated, he gave a shake of head. “Do you happen to know if Koray is around today?” he asked.
The hostess blinked in surprise at the chef's son being asked for by name. Regardless, she bowed her head and went back into the kitchen to retrieve him. "Koray? You have a visitor," the hostess stated, gently putting a hand on his shoulder to still his work in the kitchen. Confused, Koray looked over at the hostess before washing his hands. Thankfully, his father waved him off, saying he'd done enough for the day. "Thanks, father," Koray murmured, taking off his chef's coat before heading out in a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He probably looked like a hot mess but well, he hadn't exactly been expecting company.
The moment he saw Gabe, Koray's face lit up, "Gabe? What a nice surprise~," he mused, tosseling his hair a little, "Dad gave me the rest of the day off unless you wanted something to eat first? I could make you something today if you wanted~," he continued, smiling warmly at Gabe thereafter.
Gabe was happy enough to wait at the front when it was confirmed that the Koray was there. Only a few minutes later, he caught sight of him coming through the restaurant. A small wave was given before he got close enough to speak. “Hello there sweetheart,” he smirked a little softly. Dad gave me the rest of the day— Oh? Well that was nice. The offer to eat first, though, earned a wry smile.
“I actually have a present for you…” Gabe answered, bending down to pull up the paper bag with the various apricorns and berries he had brought. Holding it forward slightly so Koray could see inside, Gabe waited briefly before explaining. “These are winter harvests from my new farm. They are incredibly fresh if I do say so myself…” he chuckled a little at that. “When it came time to do something with them, though, I realized why not consult the actual chef here…” A softer laugh. “How does a cooking date sound, hm?”
A blush instantly bloomed on Koray's features as Gabe greeted him by flirting. He...hadn't been expecting that and instead rambled on about eating something. That was why he'd been at the restaurant, right? Or was it for-...for him? Well, they had had fun last time and Gabe had asked for him... A hand reached to fiddle with the bracelet Gabe had given him last time. Was it possible that the blush deepened at the mention of the present? Yes, yes it was. Koray's face felt like it was burning as his mind raced, trying to think about what it could have been.
The explanation had Koray brightening considerably as he quickly took the bag like he'd just been given the greatest treasure imaginable. "No way!" Koray all but exclaimed. Gabe was explaining about what he wanted to do with them, cooking with... with him? The comment about it being a date was missed completely as Koray took Gabe's hand and led him into the kitchen. There were spare coats around, surely, and it would be a real treat for Gabe to be able to see the immense kitchens in the restaurant.
"Hey Dad, we're going to use the free workspace over here, alright?" Koray called over to him, earning a nod and a wave before he gave one of the spare coats and hats to Gabe. "Here, put this on. Did you have anything in mind regarding what to do with them? Sweet, savory... of course apricorns require a little more finesse..." Koray explained, donning his own chef's coat once more before pulling out one of the recipe books and setting it on the table for Gabe to see. Koray could do all of these recipes by memory for the most part, but the book was for Gabe's benefit more than him.
The excitement that rushed off Koray flooded the area, and Gabe found himself warming and smiling. He’d been about to say something more, about how he had heard Apricorns could turn into Pokeballs and how the berries could be added to all kinds of meals, but Gabe was immediately cut off as Koray took his hand and led him back into the restaurant. Walking inside, Gabe was met with more and more warmth. But this was good, very good.
As they stepped into the back kitchen, Gabe set his shoulder bag down in a corner and took the spare coat that was offered to him. Oh, these were the fancy ones weren’t they? Carefully Gabe slipped it on and stretched momentarily to assess the length. At the question, though, he smiled. “Actually, I had heard Apricorns, when cooked correctly, could turn into Pokeballs of all things heh…” he smiled a little. “Not exactly edible like that, but there are also berries and things in the bottom that would probably be good for something savory….?” He’d let Koray assess for himself.
Koray was more than a little excited about the prospect of cooking something with Gabe and it showed. Already thumbing through the cookbook, he looked back to see Gabe put the coat on and smiled at the way it looked. "Looks good on you~, glad I grabbed the right size," Koray mused, smirking a little before listening to Gabe explain what he'd had in mind. Alright, pokeballs and something savory...
"...interesting..." Koray hummed, pulling out the pokeballs as he thumbed through some of the other cookbooks. This was something he'd never worked with before. Mmm, if Dad wasn't busy, he'd ask him but well, they were in the middle of business hours and Koray couldn't ask him to stop everything just to ask a couple questions. I can figure this out. "I haven't worked with apricorns before, but it seems like this book has some basic directions. Should be able to figure it out from there. Mmmm, it looks like we need to boil them first? Easy enough."
With that, he pulled out a large pot and started filling it with water. The pot would be placed on the stove while the Apricorns were all carefully placed to the side until the water was ready. "Now as for savory recipes, berries are great in salads, reductions, and sauces. Was there a protein you were interested in working with? Ohh, these Cheri berries would be great for a sauce with some kick." It was hard to tell whether Koray was thinking out loud or asking for Gabe's opinion. Maybe both.
“Yeah,” Gabe snorted softly at Koray’s words. It was pretty interesting, especially since the first known Pokeballs were made exclusively from Apricorns. He paused momentarily as Koray admitted to never having worked with them in that way. Oh? Well, it looked like Koray was willing to try anyways, and that was all Gabe could ask for. “Boil hm?” he nodded at that.
As much as he wanted to help, Gabe simply waited and watched as Koray pulled out the pot and started to fill it. He knew better than to get in the way on a one-person job, and in this case filling a container was basically that. As the pot was placed on the stove and the Apricorns prepped, Gabe read over the recipe for them carefully.
Huh, this looked pretty straightforward, actually. Maybe I should have looked into the logistics first… He looked up from the book as Koray went on describing what savory berries could be used for and what this and that was used for. Heh, no this was the right decision… Having a person acquainted with this sort of thing… was much much better than anything he could do on his own.
“I see…. Perhaps something with fish?” Gabe asked his eyes bouncing around. “Or chicken….” He wasn’t actually sure what the restaurant had on hand that day. That was up to Koray. “Any ideas using those two?”
Koray flipped through a couple of the recipes while waiting for the water to boil, smiling at the suggestion to use fish or chicken. Mmm, no, definitely fish for this selection of berries. "Fish for sure. Do you like fish? Tilapia is fairly mild in terms of the fishy flavor, but I prefer salmon by far. It would work wonders with a reduction sauce. Probably a salad as a side too. Did you want some sort of starch? Rice would probably work well with it or some fresh noodles.... actually, that might be pretty fun to do together if you don't mind putting in a little elbow grease~," Koray hummed, already pulling out a few ingredients that they would need to work with.
Let's see... some flour, eggs... the fish of course, chocolate would be great for the reduction... Oh, right. Gabe was still here. Maybe he should speak up a little instead of getting lost in his own world heh. "Where would you like to start? The fish doesn't take long to cook so I'd suggest the salad or pasta dough first~," whatever was fine with him. Waiting for water to boil was tedious, but there was plenty to do in the meantime.
Gabe’s lips curled a little. “Sounds good, heh, I wouldn’t have suggested fish if I didn’t like it,” he teased softly lightly elbowing Koray. At the distinction, though, Gabe shrugged. “I’m not too particular on the type of fish, though…” he admitted. Food was food, and as Gabe had learned years ago now, beggars and thieves couldn’t be choosers. “So salmon is good if you have it, and if not tilapia is just fine.” At the follow up question, though, he folded his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmmmm rice and noodles?” he asked. It sounded so messy to eat but. “Sure.” Why not?
Watching Koray grab ingredients out of one space and the next, Gabe found himself leaning against the counter. He seemed like almost an entirely different person when in the kitchen. Not like that’s surprising… He’d already guessed it was sort of a special interest of sorts. Hm? Where would he like to start? A small chuckle came from Gabe. “Ah, how about the pasta?” he asked shifting around to one side of Koray. “I remember last time you said it was made fresh in the restaurant daily…. Mind showing me how to do it?” Might as well get some instructions on it first.
Koray laughed at the tease and smirked back at the elbowing. The best fish was most definitely salmon and it would pair well with the flavours the berries held. "Salmon it is then. I wouldn't have suggested it if we didn't have it~," Koray mused, teasing Gabe right back before nodding to himself and pulling out the ingredients to make the fresh pasta.
Let's see... flour, oil... a sprinkle of salt...eggs... the secret ingredient... there, simple enough. The ingredients would be set out for both of them thereafter. If Gabe decided he'd rather do salad first, these could be set aside fairly easily. Salads were a little fussier than pasta and it would be a good form of exercise while the water boiled. I wonder if I could reuse the pot... Ah, best not to. The Apricorns might give the noodles an off taste and that wouldn't be good at all.
"Pasta it is then~. Start with 2 cups of the semolina flour, then start to make a volcano out of it. Oh, best wash your hands first," Koray began, turning to wash his own hands just to be doubly sure. Besides, the berries and apricorns had already been set out within easy reach so they wouldn't have to dig through the bag again. Once that was done, Koray poured the flour onto the bench and skillfully began molding it into a nest of sorts. The hole had to be deep enough to hold the liquid ingredients without leaking after all.
Gabe snickered softly elbowing Koray back. “Well good then,” was all he’d answer back with. He couldn’t wait to eat (even if he knew it was going to take a while starting from scratch, heh). Watching as Koray set out the ingredients of choice, Gabe went through a mental check list of his own (only to recount what was there, though). Nice, nice.
Two cups flour into a volcano— “Alright.” Gabe gave a nod and walked over to the sink. Turning on the water, he washed his hands once… twice and then dried them off, leaving the water running for Koray when he stepped up to it. After that, he helped along squishing the flour together and humming softly.
Gabe went along like that mostly following after Koray as necessary. In the back of his mind, he was folding up various techniques into a repository in his mind for later. Mixing the ingredients together like that was rather genius and made rolling it into a dough all that much simpler. As it was rolled out after, Gabe smirked a little. “My my your hands just seem to fly….” he mused at Koray.
Koray had to remember to voice his thoughts out loud this time instead of just focusing on preparing the dough like he normally did. "Good, good~. Now we pour the oil, eggs, and the secret ingredient in the center. From there we take a fork and start mixing the eggs. Careful not to create a leak," Koray explained, smiling as Gabe worked alongside him. He was doing pretty well it seemed and every so often he'd switch off, making sure not to create too much of a mess on the table.
"There we go, now that we have dough like consistency, we get the fun part of kneading it. Go on, hit it with all you have~," Koray mused, laughing at Gabe's comment about his hands, "I've had quite a bit of practice, that's all~." Taking the dough back, Koray knead it some more, pounding it into submission before rolling it back to Gabe. "We'll know it's been kneaded enough once there's a bit of bounce to it. Basically, if you poke it, the dough springs back from the hole."
The sound of the pot's lid rattling however drew Koray's attention away from the dough and back to the pot he'd put on to boil. "Seems the water's boiling. Keep working on the dough and I'll put the Apricorns in."Maybe I need to put some salt in there too... should've put that in before... One quick glance at the recipe showed that a little salt wouldn't hurt and thus a handful was dropped into the pot before the Apricorns were lowered in slowly. He didn't want to risk breaking them after all.
Hit it with all you have. Gabe snorted softly. “Alright,” he chuckled back as it was rolled his way right after. Though he was unwilling to show Koray the sheer amount of strength he did have behind himself, Gabe did lean into kneading the dough into a tighter and tighter form and making sure it was mostly consistent all the way through. We’ll know its done when there’s a bounce to it… Heh, that was funny, wasn’t it? “When it becomes reactive then…” he laughed at his own paraphrasing right then.
Every once in a while, Gabe noticed his black nail polish reflecting the light off the overhead light, and adding just a bit of unintended sparkle to his movements. I’m going to have to repaint them later… Gabe registered in the back of his mind. Ah well.
At the mention of the water boiling, Gabe hummed and nodded. “Alrighty~” he continued to press into the dough in the meantime. “So what have you been up to lately?” he went on. His hands were busy, but his thoughts were free to roam now. "Anything interesting aside form cooking?"
Words: 302 | Tag:Gabe Alim | Notes: Requesting +2 cooking for background cooking ~250 words or so
Koray grinned when Gabe laughed at telling him to hit the dough. He knew firsthand how tough dough could be to work with, but it was rewarding in the end. Looking over to view Gabe's work every so often, Koray was admittedly impressed at how well he was doing. A quick study... But he had to focus on his own work right then. Was he supposed to do anything special to the Apricorns right then. The recipe didn't say as much so he'd go with that.
Hearing Gabe laugh again, Koray smirked and nodded, stirring the pot lightly, "Mhm~, exactly," he replied, checking and double checking the recipe to make sure he was doing this correctly. Unlike most other ingredients in the restaurant, he couldn't make a mistake with these. There weren't any replacements for the fresh produce and Apricorns. A time would be set to check on the apricorns before he moved to pull out some vegetables for the salad. That would take a little bit more time, especially since he wanted to make salad dressing too... Mmm, what else would go well with this?
That thought would be put on hold however when Gabe asked what he'd been up to lately. Koray's breath hitched a little bit and he opted to pull out some lettuce and start chopping it if only for something else to focus on. "Not a lot, work's kept me pretty busy... I went ice skating in Birch though, that was pretty fun..." Koray explained, smiling a bit as he remembered, "Other than that..." he started, trailing off before giving a shake of his head. No, he didn't really want to talk about that. "Never mind, it's not important. How's the dough look?"
Gabe would not miss the hitch of breath. Yellow eyes looked up and then sideways to Koray’sprofile. Ice skating in Birch? “Oh yeah? I was over at the new ice skating rink rather recently,” he answered. “Wonder if we happened to be there around the same time.” Of course it could have just as well been two separate ice skating rinks too, but yeah.
There was that pause again, though, and a quick never mind after. Gabe’s lips pressed together in a fine line for a moment before he looked down at the dough instead. “Pretty smashed,” he snorted softly. “I hope you can’t overmix these…” Leaning back, he lowered his hands. “What do you think?” His eyes remained on Koray’s profile carefully now. He didn’t want to pry too much, but if Koray had been about to say something… eh.
Requesting a cooking point for the last 7 posts or so revolving around preparing a meal. Should be around 250 words.
Koray could feel Gabe look at him even as he started to answer. He didn't want to bring the mood down by explaining what was really bothering him. This was fun, Gabe didn't need to know about what had happened...or what was still happening. Hearing that Gabe had gone to the ice rink too had Koray smiling again however, chuckling a little at the thought of being there at the same time. "That would be cool. I had four eggs with me at the time and had to take a break to take care of the hatchlings. Ring any bells?" Koray asked, quietly hoping that Gabe wouldn't remember seeing anyone with four new hatchlings. He doubted Gabe would be able to put two and two together regarding his spirit sensing but... better be safe than sorry.
Hearing how the dough was, Koray laughed and paused chopping the lettuce long enough to pull out some plastic wrap, "I think it looks perfect~. Here, wrap the dough in this and stick it in the fridge to let it rest. Then you can grab a knife and start chopping some vegetables," he explained, gesturing to the variety of vegetables he'd grabbed. It was enough to make a rather good sized salad, especially if there were only going to be two people. Still, Koray remembered exactly how much Gabe liked to eat. A little more food than usual wouldn't hurt in this case.
Four eggs? Gabe was sure he would have remembered something like that had they been there around the same time. “Can’t say it does, unfortunately,” he admitted with a small laugh and a shrug.
At the assurance that the dough looked perfect, Gabe smiled and followed after the instructors. Wrapping up the dough in the plastic wrap, he picked it up, turned, and set it in the fridge. There, that wasn’t too hard. Turning thereafter, he nodded at the vegetables. “Alright.” He’d wash his hands first before grabbing a knife and carefully starting to cut the vegetables into surprisingly well sized portions. If there was one thing he had leanred how to do, it was cut.
He’d pause for a little bit before slowly. “Were you going to say something else earlier?” he asked carefully keeping the inflection in his voice under control. “If not, it’s fine.” Always give an out, and people would always say whatever it was.
Koray smirks a bit and shrugs his shoulders, "Guess we must've just missed each other then. Oh well~," mused softly, going back to chopping the vegetables after he was certain the dough was just fine. It was hard to overwork pasta dough thankfully, but it seemed that Gabe had done a fine job regardless. Now what to do with the salad... There were quite a few berries that would work wonderfully in the salad. Maybe use some to make a nice vinaigrette too. He'd ask Gabe what he'd like to do after enough vegetables were cut.
Though, Koray had to admit that he was impressed at the way Gabe was cutting the vegetables. He had been prepared to illustrate the basics of chopping but well, seemed there was no need to. "Impressive~," Koray praised, tossing his cut vegetables into a large bowl. The question that came thereafter, had him stopping short and taking a breath. He... didn't really want to talk about it... but on the other hand... maybe actually telling someone would do him some good.
A breath would be taken and for a few moments only the sound of chopping vegetables could be heard. "I... met up with an ex recently..." Koray explained, his voice hitching a few times, "It's... complicated and-..." another breath, "I guess it's really been bringing me down..."Fuck, now his voice was shaking. Clearing his throat, Koray opted to focus on chopping instead, his pace perhaps speeding up a little bit more.
Gabe waited, a knife looming over the vegetables he had been chopping. As Koray slowly spoke, though, it shook a moment before being set down next to the vegetables. Gabe bit the inside of his mouth— hard. A meet up with an ex was all too familiar to him. The sense that it was complicated and depressing and a myriad of other feelings was also all too familiar to him.
Stepping over to Koray’s side, Gabe stood shoulder to shoulder with him for a moment before slowly raising a hand to said shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “Sorry, didn’t mean to upset you…” he answered. “…For what it’s worth. I know what those feelings are like.”Too well. Too too too well. “Had a situation like that sort of recently as well.” Pat pat pat.
Koray continued to chop, willing himself to focus on chopping, something he was so familiar with it was like breathing. It's alright... He had to be. The last thing he wanted to do was bring down the mood but now that he'd said it... it felt real. Everything that Ara had said, or didn't say, everything she'd done... It all came crashing down and it was all Koray could do to put the knife down just as he felt Gabe squeeze his shoulder.
His vision blurred only to be quickly blinked away at the apology. Deep breaths. It's alright. He was fine... but then again... Gabe understood what it felt like. That meant more right then than Koray thought it would and turned to look at Gabe. "You do... er... did?" he asked cautiously, not quite sure what to do or say at that point. Did he really want to delve into it right then? Not really... and yet... having someone who understood? Was it worth it?
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