Cooking

Date/Timing: 31 August 2011
Setting: Hermann & Edan's flat; Battersea, London, England, United Kingdom
.
Dottie welcomes Hermann back to the flat with bright eyes and an enthusiastic wiggle.
"Hello, there. Did you keep your dad out of trouble today?"
Dottie /whuffs, bows, and wags.
Hermann steps out of his shoes and into his slippers. "Good job. Thank you."
Dottie jingles off.
He shakes his head and follows her to the kitchen.
Edan stands at the stove, singing ("Janie Jones"), and stirring a large pot of something which smells /heavenly.
Hermann hooks his cane on the counter, drapes himself against Edan's back, wrapping his arms around his waist.
""How was your second day as a professing professor?""
Hermann groans.
Edan shuffles them to the right. ""That bad?""
He turns his head. "Unlike the fawning yesterday, these were all out to challenge my authority. I felt like a child who'd wandered into the wrong room."
""This was the upper-level bunch?"
Hermann grunts.
""You put the fear of God in 'em, yea?"" He shuffles them back to the stove and something splashes into the pot.
"I tried, but I'm afraid I'm not intimidating enough for this lot."
""Take Dottie on Friday.""
"What good will that do?"
""Put her muzzle on and sit her down in front of the room. /We know she's a bark-free sugar-puff, but /they don't. 'Big black dog with a muzzle' equals '/please don't bite us' and 'holy shit our professor's a bad-ass'.""
Hermann snorts a laugh.
""Just make sure to tie her lead to something so she doesn't wander into the crowd to make friends. Would /totally ruin the effect.""
"It certainly would."
Edan hums.
Hermann sighs.
""Now, you know I love you and all the closeness I can get, but I need to move freely for this bit and you need to turn the dusters loose so we can eat in comfort.""
Hermann whines as he separates, then picks up his cane and heads for their bedroom. 
Off come his trousers, jacket, jumper, shirts, and binder. He works his wings through their full range of motion, then lets them sag. With a sigh, he retrieves his pajamas and slides them on, grabs his housecoat from behind the door and climbs inside. A roll of his shoulders to settle the fabric and he hobbles back to the kitchen.
Edan's still at the stove, singing ("London's Burning") and ladling that heavenly-smelling stuff into bowls.
Hermann leans against the doorway, inhales deeply. "I still don't know what to make of your skill as a cook."
Edan grins, wafts a bowl of a stew under Hermann's nose, sets it in front of Hermann's place at the counter. 
Hermann slides into his seat. 
Edan snags a pair of bowls from beside the stove, puts one at his seat, one between the two of them. "I've told you: I had to learn if I didn't want to starve or live on instant noodles. This is years of trial and error and those are rolls—store-bought—under the towel." 
Hermann fishes out a roll, splits it with his knife. "Pardon my sexism, but why didn't Fenella do the cooking?" Pokes butter into the bread. 
"Because Fen-fen, bless her little ginger head, tended to get distracted midway through a dish and there'd be smoke, fire, rescue teams, lectures from the police." Edan shrugs, digs in with his spoon. "It saved us a world of bother when I learned."
"Sounds as though it did."
Edan snorts.
They eat.
Dottie joins the feast, crunching her chow.
"Seconds?" asks Edan.
"I'm /stuffed."
"Cool. That means we'll have a couple of lunches from the rest."
"I'll be the envy of the department when they smell this in the lounge."
Edan beams. "Mum always said I'd make someone a good husband."
"Suppose I'm lucky to have gotten to you first, then."
"You flatter me," says Edan as he stands, gathers the empty bowls and the cutlery, and kisses Hermann's crown on the way to the sink.
"I'll wash while you pack away the remainder," offers Hermann, pushing to his feet.
"Excellent plan."
So that's what they do until the leftovers are in the fridge and the dishware's in the drying rack.
Then they stroll to the big room and ooze down side-by-side on the sofa.
Dottie patters over, hops up onto the blanket spread for her next to Edan, and settles her head in his lap.
He smiles, scratches her ears, grabs his tablet.
"Playing games?"
"I /wish, but the latest try at using Arecibo to spot exoplanets was published today and I need to see if there's anything salvageable from the hash they made."
Hermann settles his glasses on his nose, picks up his laptop, logs into the student information system. "Exoplanets with a radio telescope? That seems unlikely."
"They had a clever idea, but they muffed the execution badly and recorded a couple dozen hours of rubbish, but it was still a /really clever idea and I might be able to fix their mistakes and use it."
Hermann hums.
"What're you working on?"
"PAIGE flagged some at-risk-of-failure students in my classes, so I'm reviewing their records to see what can be done for them."
"That is such a cool algorithm you worked out."
"/She worked out. I asked her to develop it and she did all the work."
"That is soooooo /brilliant." Edan rests his head on Hermann's shoulder. "Will you give it to my PAIGE so I can use it on my sections this term?"
"I'll send it right now so I don't forget."
"Thank you~!" Nuzzles Hermann's neck. "My fiancé is the smartest fiancé."
"/My fiancé's brain is certainly nothing to scoff at."
"Still, it's a good thing I can cook, yea?"
"That's a sizable bonus." Hermann shifts, winces, rolls his shoulders.
"The dusters bugging you?"
"I think ...." Sighs, shifts again. "I think I could use some help preening." Glowers at his screen. "The stress seems to have inspired some extra shedding."
"That's no good. You want to get right to it or finish what you're doing first?"
"Finish your article—"
"I don't—"
"—and I'll finish matchmaking students and tutors, then we can move on to mutual grooming."
"Oo! Oo! Can you braid my hair again?"
Hermann's mouth works soundlessly for a moment, then, "Are. You. /Serious?!"
"What?"
"You looked /ridiculous! You said so yourself!"
Dottie lifts her head, /thumps her tail.
"But the /braiding bit felt soooooooo niiiiiiiiice." Edan sighs. "It was totally worth the laughter I got the next day."
Hermann forces his attention back to his laptop. "Bonkers. You are absolutely mad."
"So, it's a /really good thing I'm a quality cook."
"Yes. That's the entire reason I tolerate your presence, /leannan."
"Thought so," snickers Edan.
Category:Ficlet
Category:London (setting)
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann's POV
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Hermann has wings
Category:Hermann is a professor
Category:Edan
Category:Edan (ficlet)
Category:Peridot
Category:Peridot (ficlet)
Category:Ficlets with images
Category:Pages with comments
2011 08 31
Category:Celestial Mechanics