Iron Fandom, Wednesday, period 3

[tigerundercover]

The Danger Shop this week had a warm, lounge-y feel this time, with the Fandom skyline silhouetted against the orange-y back wall and "Iron Fandom" in neon above it all.

Parker, over by the judges’ table, was looking way too ecstatic, and bouncing on her toes like she couldn’t stay still for more than half a second.

"Just wait till the sous chefs come out," Raven told her, smiling at her excitement. "I'm not sure Hardison ever got over them last week."

"He was still giggling about them on the radio the next day," Kathy agreed. "I don't know if he can remember what the secret ingredient was, but I know he appreciated the sous chefs."

The sous chefs in question entered shortly after the three students, taking their positions by the work stations. Pinkie's had his hair up in bouncy pigtails, with a few tiny braids still hanging on from week one.

Parker’s face went through confusion, dawning understanding, and then unholy glee as she looked from one Sous-Spencer to the other. “This is the BEST DAY. Really. THE BEST DAY.” She was going to have to do Eliot’s hair like that when she got home!

Kathy was pretty sure she was going to owe Eliot an apology. Both for the new hairstyle and also because of the day's secret ingredient. Which reminded her, it was time to get on with class. "Hey everyone and welcome to the fourth week of Iron Fandom," she greeted the class. "Since you're all familiar with the rules, we can jump right into cooking. Today's special ingredient is in honor of our guest judge, Parker! Parker, do you wanna tell the class what element must be present in all three of their courses?"

“CHOCOLATE.” Parker said this barely after Kathy finished talking, and beamed around the room. “And I love all chocolate in all forms and in all ways and I really, really am looking forward to new and exciting chocolate!” She looked kind of like she wanted to hug Raven and Kathy for inviting her today, which was a weird look on her. But a happy one. “If you mess up the chocolate, I will go to my angry place. Fair warning!”

"And that's why we have this class in the room with safeties on it," Raven joked. "Remember: chocolate doesn't have to always be sweet. Mix it up for your different dishes, really explore the flavor." She looked over to her co-judges and nodded. That sounded wise, right? Very chefly.

Super chefly. Kathy was impressed. "There are plenty of different kinds of chocolate out there and chocolate had a long history dating all the way back to the ancient Aztecs. It deepens a lot of flavors, so try some unexpected pairings. You'd be surprised at how good dark chocolate and chilies go together." She glanced at her co-judges. "Are you ready?"

"Set!" Raven said, looking over to Parker. Possibly, they should have practiced this part first.

“Go go go go gogogogo GO GO GOOOOOO!” Parker was very much looking forward to the process and results here.

"And she hasn't even eaten any yet. . . ."

"We might have made a mistake here, yeah."

Archaeology for Fun and Profit! [Tues, 1st Period]

[jedigrammarians]

Today Aphra had her students gather in a simulated antechamber, where she stood beside a pair of massive carved wooden doors, weathered with age and coved in cobwebs.

"You guys seem to be handling yourselves pretty well so far, with only dying a couple of times a week, so it's time for you to deal with one of the most hazardous things an archaeologist can face." There was a crack of lightning and not particularly distant thunder rumbled as she pushed open the door with a flourish to reveal... a library. "Paperwork!"

Aphra had maybe spent a bit too much time around overly dramatic people like Darth Vader recently.

She lowered her arms. "No, seriously, all the stuff from the last two classes just killed you, paperwork will make you wish you were dead, and it's unavoidable." Man, if Triple Zero ever discovered the torture potential of bureaucracy... "Anyway, there's a list of some forms to fill out, and once the Wookiee certifies them you can have the rest of the period off."

Sounds easy enough, right?