revivalproject | July OTA

Entry tags:

July OTA

WHO: Cobb Vanth & Others
WHERE: The Diner/Glownie Ranch/The Forge area
WHAT: Some open prompts for July.
WHEN: Various times.
WARNINGS: Cobb's general bad language. Mentions of animal slaughter.

Cooking Breakfast - OTA

It was shortly after sunrise in the diner and drifting from the kitchen was the pleasant smell of spices and baking bread. Also, soft singing.

Cobb was at the stove singing to himself as he carefully sliced up various fruits. On the counter he had already laid out a few dishes already since he’d been here for a while. There was a plate of thin sliced pan seared glownie, A bowl of arisha, fried dough balls that were savory, heavily spiced, and very common on Tatooine, and some thick slices of tigertubers mixed with chopped baconrooms.

He sang in Booce a soft song with a flowing melody that - if someone knew the language - would know was actually a terribly sad song about leaving a lover behind. Cobb was in a good mood despite the sad song and felt like singing. He kept his voice low just because it was early and if someone wandered into the diner he didn’t want to disturb them.

After arranging the various fruits on a plate he pushed it over to the counter where it join the rest of the breakfast spread. He considered the presentation for a moment and then nudged a few things. Happy with that he nodded to himself and went to the oven.

He carefully pulled out small flatbreads and laid those on a plate as well. Then it was on to making a quick dipping sauce from cumatos and spices to dip everything or drizzle over everything if people wanted.

Cobb had made enough to share.

Glownie Trouble - OTA

Cobb stood in the middle of the glownie corral with his hands braced on his thighs, breathing hard. The glownies themselves were keeping their distance from Cobb and eyeing him with suspicion. They were familiar with him, aware he fed them and looked after them but also aware when he came around one of them might leave the herd and not come back.

It was a tricky thing looking after animals for slaughter. Cobb hadn’t done it hands on like this but he had talked with Mallik and bantha herders often enough to know a thing or two about it. He had thought he’d done well making sure the glownies wouldn’t catch on about the slaughtering but they were plenty nervous around him now.

He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips looking over the herd. One watched him while the others got back to their grazing.

“Look,” he said, his tone mildly frustrated while trying to be reasonable with the herd. “I ain’t here to hurt anyone. I’m just here to do a little grooming. I want some wool. That’s it, you walkin’ light bulbs.”

He even had a comb. It was in his right hand. Nothing to worry about if the dumb animals would stop being so paranoid. Maybe he should’ve thought about this and waited for when they were in the barn but he hadn’t expected them to be so flighty.

Cobb might need a helper.

Tinkering - OTA

Cobb hadn’t spent much time in the forge section of the city which he found slightly amusing considering his background as a mechanic and general fixer. He hadn’t had a good reason lately but after these folks made him a grill and some kabob skewers an idea had been growing in the back of his head and he figured he might as well try it himself instead of asking for help again. Surely, all these folks had their own projects they were working on.

So, if he wanted a smoker to preserve meat and make some jerky he figured he had to make it himself. How hard could it be? Just needed something to make smoke, then get that smoke to the meat, and keep it trapped.

Having never been in this part of the city before Cobb was a little uncertain, actually. He had no idea if he could take any of the scrap he saw lying around. There were a few things he saw that could probably work, some tubing and some metal sheets he could weld together… if they had the means for that.

Cobb had no idea, actually, what sort of machining tools they had lying around.

“Well, kriff,” he muttered to himself.

Maybe he should’ve asked for help after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cobb thought he remembered pizza from his time in Billy's world. It tickled some memory in the back of his mind but he couldn't remember the taste of it very well. Maybe he hadn't eaten it just had memories of eating it.

"Well, you can come find out for yourself," he said stirring the sauce with one hand while he waved at the collection of plates with another. "Just leave enough for other folks. It'll be better in a minute when I finish this."

There was a lot of food but not the same abundance as the beach party. He figured the early morning folks would go through it but Lauri-Ell was big enough to eat it all herself, he assumed.

Well of course she would not eat everything. That would be very rude.

"I prefer a light breakfast with protein paste after my rounds," she promised him, moving to take up a plate. "What is this food you have made here? Is it something like native to your owrld?"

"Those are." He pointed to the ahrisa. "They're a little spicy but really good."

That was sort of how Tatooine food was. Spicy. Cobb had toned down some of it when he cooked for others out of politeness. Most folks here had liked it at the beach party though so he hadn't tone it down this time.

"Everythin' else I just made up from what I know about cookin'." There was plenty to work with from the greenhouse and still a little bit of meat left over. They really needed to get herd numbers up for regular slaughter.

Or some of those little naked ground birds. Those probably bred faster than the glownies.

"Spicy sounds lovely," Lauri-Ell promised, and she took some flatbread to consider it before starting to add some fruit to her plate.

"I thought cooking meant you worked on a list of rules. I am clearly mistaken. I thank you for this food and ask if there is anything I might do to assist?"

It took Cobb a minute to figure out what she meant by that. "Oh! A recipe! Well, yeah, you can cook that way. If you don't know how to cook somethin'. I've been cookin' a long time. I don't need one."

And nothing he ever learned about cooking came from a recipe either. He had very fond memories of sitting around his mom and aunties watching them cook. That was how he had learned.

"With this? No, I'm almost done. Appreciate the offer though." Cobb had it well in hand now.

Ah yes, that is the word for it. A recipe. What a nice word.

"Yes, you look wise and experienced. It is true that hair of your color marks you as a more experienced human in most situations, yes?"

She didn't always know the most about humans.

"Not even in the future?" she asked, watching him. Once he was done she would want some of what he was finishing.

"Means I'm old," he said with a laugh. "And fairly experienced. Can't say I know as much as some folks here even ones younger than me."

Cobb's experiences were all entirely on Tatooine. He didn't have a lot of variety in his experiences. Not like folks who had traveled the galaxy like Ezra.

"Oh, in the future maybe. Can't think of anything right now." He was almost done with the sauce. He wanted it to reduce a little bit more so it would stick to whatever folks poured it on.

Old? Lauri-Ell considers this and shakes her head. "No, you do not seem old. You are clearly just experienced. A good number of journeys, to teach you much of the world."

She has seen old. He isn't wrinkled much. So not old.

"Well, that is understandable. Please do remember me for that. I wish to assist."

"Oh, I promise you I am. At least, for a human." Cobb had to remember that to some alien species he was young. Hell, Din's kid was the same age and he was just a little baby. "And I'm pretty old for my planet too."

And slaves died young on Tatooine. Cobb was a lucky bastard to make it to fifty. Even luckier to be free by his age. Maybe he didn't look it to her but Cobb was very aware of his age.

"I'll remember. There's always somethin' around this place I could use a little help with." Cobb turned the heat off and moved the sauce to the side to cool for a bit while he went looking for a suitable dish for it.

"If you wish to know my skills, they are not many outside of combat. Mostly I am very strong."

And carrying things is something she could happily do.

"Well, if I ever need someone bigger than me punched I'll give you a call." Cobb poured the sauce carefully into a bowl and then put a spoon in it for folks to drizzle over their food.

He slid it over to Lauri-Ell. "Give that a taste. Let me know what you think."

Cobb then went to clean up. He couldn't stand leaving a mess. There was an old worry in the back of his mind some overseer would see it and make trouble for him. He had to clean up before he could enjoy breakfast.

Lauri-Ell frowned at the suggestion that she should punch someone for her.

"I do not like violence, for all that I am good at it," she answered, very concerned. Then she took up the spoon to drizzle some over her bread. She wanted to try things the way they are meant.

"I expect I shall be pleased. It must bet better than 'chili' paste."

"Don't worry, I was kidding about that. I'm perfectly capable of punching people myself." Cobb preferred to handle most fights on his own anyway. It went over Lauri-Ell's head though. He'd tried to turn down the sarcasm.

"Well, I didn't make that spicy." He wanted it to balance out the other flavors, not add heat on top of heat. He might do that on his own but not when he was cooking for other people.

He set a pan aside after washing it, leaving it to dry. "You need something to drink?"

Ah, well that was good. Except for the punching thing. But she wasn't going to say things that it wasn't her place to say.

Lauri-Ell lifted the piece of bread and took a bite. And then was left making a noise that could only be taken one way. Someone that had suddenly met spicy food.

"Water," she gasped out, gesturing eagerly.

Maybe he put more spice in it than he thought.

"You don't want water, actually. Makes the burn worse." Cobb set the dishes aside for the moment and went to the cold box. "Eat some of the plain flatbread. It'll do more for you."

While he left her to that, Cobb got some powdered blue milk from the cabinets and made a glass for her. The milk would do even more for her. "And drink this. It'll cool things off."

He dipped a pinky in the sauce and tasted it again. Hm, seemed mild to him.

No, he did not. It was just that Lauri-Ell had never had spicy food before in her life, and the sensation was truly new. But with his instruction she does so, taking careful bites until her tongue felt a bit better.

Once she had calmed her tongue she smiled up at him.

"That was an amazing experience!"

She sipped the milk before taking another bite. Again she made the noises but she was smiling around them.

"Yeah, it's a rush the first few times." Cobb chuckled, glad he hadn't upset the warrior. "But the ahrisa is spicier than that so watch out. Same with the glownie."

Because he'd spiced those to his tastes which liked heat. He was a desert man. Everything was hot.

"Glad you like it though." Cobb got back to washing the remaining dishes. There weren't many left for him to deal with. Once he finished, he went to get a little percolator he'd brought back from Coruscant. Time to make some caf.

"Which is the ahrisa?" she asked. And then paused. Glownie? There was glownie meat here? That sounded, well, worrying. But at the same time, she supposed it made snese. Food was to be had, wasn't it?

"Spicier. Does that mean it burns more? I should like to try that."

"Those there." He pointed to the fried balls of dough with flecks of black seeds in them. "And yeah, it'll burn more. Probably feel it in the back of your throat and your nose."

The sort of spice had a real whole body kick. Cobb mixed the grains of caf with some water and put the percolator on the stove to brew. He had a cup back home before he set out but it was always a good time for caf.

"They don't have spicy food where you're from?"

The fried balls go into her mouth now. The noises of pain and discomfort only grows and yet she still seems very happy with it. This was wonderful and when she had followed it with flatbread and fruit and milk she smiled at him. When she spoke she had to pause to breath every few words.

"No. I was a soldier. I ate rations."

"Thought they fed soldiers well." Cobb had never actually spent a lot of time around soldiers. He'd seen those in charge around him eat well which included the Stormtroopers.

Not everyone served a tyrannical government but it made sense to feed the folks fighting for you well. Just kept them fighting longer.

"If you want I'll make you a little spice blend you can sprinkle over food. I can't promise everything will be good spicy but you can try." Why not? She was clearly enjoying herself even in pain.

"We are fed efficiently," Lauri-Ell answered. "I never had hunger."

But she never had things as flavorful as this. It is wonderful, to eat well.

"That would be nice. I shall try it many ways!"

That was more than Cobb could say about his life. There were plenty of times he went hungry. Denying food was a favorite punishment of his masters.

"Alright, give me a minute." Cobb poured himself a cup of caf which was bitter and strong, the way he preferred it.

Then he started gathering little bottles and bags of spices to mix together for her. "You ever want to learn to cook for yourself?"

Ooh, she knows that scent.

"Is that the dark bitter brew Cayde has made before? Is there enough for two? If there is not I do not wish to take it, it would be wrong. But if I can have a sip, it would be nice."

Cook for herself? Lauri-Ell looks shocked.

"I am a soldier. I work to protect others, and I should not take from that. I also try and train others."

Surely she cannot do both.

"We call it caf." Cobb got down a second mug and poured one for Lauri-Ell. Was there enough for two? There always was. They each got a little less but they got some.

He slid the mug towards her. "If it's too bitter you can add a little milk to soften the taste."

With his hands wrapped around his for the warmth - it was so chilly in the mornings - Cobb leaned a hip against the counter. "Pretty sure you can train 'em during the day and learn to cook at night. Don't have to be one thing your whole life."

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