[Network Video]

[doubled_speed]

Hey all!

[Are you shocked to see Tommy? Probably not. Someone said something about cooking, of course he's going to weigh in. At least the video is a rather stationary thing, his comm clearly propped up on a counter in the diner's kitchen.]

I don't know about you, but I'm in for the idea of us getting some good food in us. Maybe we can talk too when we're there? If we're going.

Anyway, gonna say that the diner is pretty stocked up and I'm happy to be prep assistant on any cooking in the Diner. Just remember Diner Rules. Don't be a dick and all of that.

And anyone cooking has to promise to help carry their own shit to the thing.

[Says the guy currently, on screen, cutting a tuber with enough speed that his hands are a literal blur.]

So, uh, food time? We could use it?

Comments

[doubled_speed]

"I'm making my own thing," Tommy answered with a laugh. Even as he dropped a bowl with the chopped veggies next to Dustin, he put down another three with other things.


He'd cut at speed while the guy's back was turned.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin's eyes flicker between the other bowls for a second before he puts the pieces together. "Show-off," he scoffs, rolling his eyes. "What's the goal?"

[doubled_speed]

Tommy grins and winks. Of course it’s a show-off, he’s doing it just for that end. Enjoy that.

“There’s this sorta stew my mom Wanda made me this one time. I think I finally pinned down the spices.”

[quark_assassin]

An odd series of emotions flicker across Dustin's face at once - fondness, confusion, and resentment all have their turn doing fun things to his eyebrows, but by the end of it he just looks tired and a bit deflated.

"Did she have a name for it?" he asks through a sigh.

[doubled_speed]

"Not that I know," he admits with a shrug. "She would have it ready when I got there. I've been putting it together from memory alone."

[quark_assassin]

Dustin nods slowly. Sounds like something he would do, although he knows his palate isn't refined enough to pick out specific ingredients by taste alone. He'd have to do something along the lines of what it sounds like Tommy is trying - make an educated guess, taste, and modify until he gets a match.

"Something she made back home?" he continues, idly prodding at the now simmering sauce. "Must be difficult to replicate the seasoning with alien ingredients."

[doubled_speed]

"Oh it's hard as fuck," he answered with a shrug. "Especially when I don't always know what the right choices are, or the names of stuff."

[quark_assassin]

"Then..." Dustin blinks a few times, refusing to look up from the stove. "...I'm glad you've figured it out. I'm sure that's important to you."

Then, feeling extremely awkward and a little uncomfortable for reasons he only partially understands, he goes quiet.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, it is. And he can feel that Dustin doesn't want pushed on that any more.

"Okay, anything else you need from me?"

[quark_assassin]

Thank fuck Tommy can read the room and gracefully bow out of a conversation better than Dustin can. He latches onto that branch like his life depends on it.

"--No, ah." Dustin shakes his head to clear it. "I've got it from here. Thanks."

[doubled_speed]

Hey, you don't go through the things he's gone through in his life without developing some abilities with reading a room. It's a defense mechanism.

"Alright then. I'm going to get back to my own work. If you need me, call out."