fandomhigh | Cooking for Beginners & Not-So-Beginners, Monday 3, Week 6

"We were going to cover something a bit more practical this week," Steve admitted, "but I know everyone had a rough week last week, and the island seems to have been sending me a message today..." Oh, look, he found another piece of chocolate in his desk drawer. He held it up illustratively and said, "So, instead, we'll be making brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

"A quick note on baking. In cooking, experimentation is encouraged. Expected, even. In baking...not so much. There's a lot of science, chemistry especially, involved in baking, and if you mess with the ingredients and don't know exactly what you're doing, you're going to end up with a disaster. So it's really best to stick to the recipes, especially the first time you make something, and even after that, if you're not an expert, it's probably a bad idea to play around. Something like omitting nuts or switching walnuts out for pecans probably won't cause a problem, but if you, say, substitute buttermilk for regular milk, or use medium eggs instead of large ones in a straight numbers swap, you're not going to be happy with the results. So. Stick to the recipe." He was unaware of Karla's reputation, not living in the dorms and all, or he might have been looking directly at her, if she was present.

"So, get to baking. Please don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it, or if there's something in the directions that is confusing you. And if you feel the need to snack on the chocolate while you cook, there seems to be plenty more where that came from."

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"I'm following the recipe!"

Because Steve had decided to stomp all over her creative impulses by standing over her shoulder and watching.

"I'm doing okay. Better, now that we've solved it. You?"

"Enh. Meh. Bleah." Kenzi made faces, then shrugged, and decided to risk death by sticking a finger in the batter and lifting it to her mouth to lick off. "That whole thing, this week, that happens a lot? Or not a lot?"

"I guess it kind of depends on your definition of a lot," Karla said, deciding to lick the spoon instead. She'd get another one to get the batter into the pan. "There were the bitey goblins in December and the weird flying turtle things that kidnapped the island's kids in March. And something horrible seems to happen just about every August, so...regularly, if that helps?"

Kenzi brooded. "We can't evacuate as soon as we see the badness coming down the pipeline? 'Cause I'm going to learn to shoot a gun and a crossbow, but still. Wouldn't that be the smartest thing?"

Hmm. "Not. Bad. Hmmmm." Nom!

Don't worry, Kenzi. Karla would find some way to ruin it. Probably specacularly!

"What if we'd all scattered for this last one?" Karla asked reasonably. "There would have been nothing for us to go back to. And what if our infected friends got loose across the Causeway? Better for us to handle it than some poor person who has no idea magic was real. And that's assuming we can leave. Which isn't always the case."

"If we'd all scattered, nobody would've been hurt--" Kenzi was eating chocolate chips now, by the handful. She paused, 'cause Karla had a point there. "Okay, well. Maybe. Sorta." She pouted, one shoulder going up. "I sucked at it though," she muttered.

"People were infected long before anyone knew anything was amiss," Karla pointed out. "The administration, for one. Principal Winchester has a daughter. So does Professor Skywalker. And Deadpool. If we'd scattered, they never would have seen them again."

And she never would have seen Warren again. Ugh. Move over, Kenzi. Karla needed some chocolate chips.

"And so you sucked? So what? At least you were out there, doing stuff. Some people just hid all day." Peter. "You suck now. So you learn. Next time something bad happens, you suck less. The time after that, you don't suck at all. And the one after that? Maybe you even start getting good. It's not hopeless."

Kenzi would fight you for those chips! And lose. But still!

"I hid. For several hours. Nearly won all the weapons off Peter playing cards." Kenzi shrugged again, but her voice was less muttery. "But I wanted to see how Bo was, so... yeah. Should've taken back-up." She sighed, and studied Karla a little soberly. "I like it here. I just-- don't know what I'm doing here." Nobody needed a thief to defend themselves.

Well. Except Peter.

"Learning," Karla said with a shrug, grabbing another handful of chips before going to scrape the brownie batter into a baking pan. "Seriously. Whoever thinks they know everything they ever will is an idiot. There are at least seven people I can name off the top of my head who you could probably ask for fighting lessons from. The thing is not to focus on what you can't do right now and think about what would be useful to know for next time. Then go out and kick ass."

Kenzi was quiet, scarfing up more chocolate chips, having no argument against that. She reached out to take another lick of chocolate, and oh-so-casually said, "So. Who'd you recommend for first? For someone who just wants to live and doesn't wanna know that karate competition bullshit?"

Cooking for Beginners & Not-So-Beginners, Monday 3, Week 6

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