Cooking by the... book??

[songbird_slayer]

Who: Madhuri and OPEN!
Which: Open Log! She sent invites to close CR, but everyone is welcome.
Where: The Lady of Bliss
What: She's hitting the ground running on wedding planning, beginning with her wheelhouse: The food. Specifically, the cake. She needs taste testers.
Warnings: Sap sap sappiness.



A smart person would speak with another and go over the details of a wedding cake. To meet with the mind of another artist and customize your special treat for your special day was part of how things like this were done, which loaned a future bride to focus entirely on preparing herself for her big day.

Madhuri was not a smart person.

One morning, the Lady of Bliss was particularly afire with determination and a thick layer of stress. To enter the bistro would have a visitor met with unfitting music for the peaceful ambiance. But judging by the way the owner moved two and fro to mix this and that, slice off layers of something else and apply jams, she looked in the thick of battle.

Some individuals knew this was coming, for the prior evening they'd received a message:


Greetings!
I need your help with cake. Bring your appetite.
Meet me at the Lady of Bliss after the clocks ring eleven.

She wasn't completely unprofessional, anyway. She would just be frosting a small cake or two upon her invited guests' arrival, but be utterly focused on it. Her three tea mice were busily working away at fixing another hot cup, plunking in the sugar cube while another took a spoon and stirred it. The third was pushing the saucer, hoping that bringing it closer would bring the xaela's attention away from her fretting.

Please, help the little mice.

Comments

Chaos? Madness? Potential tears? Get this deer some popcorn!

[lonelysmiles]

It was a real shame that Alastor had very little interest in modern technology, including video games. Because the genre of "boss music" would probably appeal to him like the weirdo he was. If nothing else, he enjoyed the music currently playing in the bistro.

He wasn't here to taste test. Heavens no! He didn't care much for sweets.

He was, however, here to witness the carnage and perhaps add a few suggestions. If nothing else, he could discuss with her those New Orleans wedding traditions he'd mentioned over the journals.

"Hello, my dear~!"

[songbird_slayer]

"H-huh!?" She briefly juggled her spatula, caught off-guard. The slippery little devil was caught again, but only just before she looked up.

There he was, tall, dark and smiley.

"OH! Thank you for answering my invitation. I, erm-" Let's just put this spatula down and dust powdered sugar off her hands and onto her apron.

"I know you aren't much for sweets, but I wanted any input you can give. I made about six different types of cake and need to narrow them down some." Do you feel it, Mr. Krabs Alastor? The sheer waves of chaos emanating? What sort of blissful place was this?

[lonelysmiles]

"Six! Dear me, that's quite a variety!" He then grinned. "Unless they're all slightly different versions of the same recipe?"

Given the young woman's current barely-put-together-okay-not-really state, he wouldn't put it past her if it was the latter.

"And I did say we'd sit down and discuss a few things, didn't we? I do want to help however I can."

And enjoy the chaos of it all at the same time. Win-win from his perspective.

[songbird_slayer]

"Thankfully it's six flavors. I'm sorry, 'types' was wrong. I don't know if I could pull off a tiered carrot cake or anything different from your average sponge." She stepped around the counter and hurried to a table to pull a chair out for him.

"So far we have an idea of... of 'around the world', as it were. We've both seen so many places and adventures all over Etheirys, so we felt it was appropriate to find ways to share the melting pot of our world with everyone as we enter..."

She swept her hands as if making a banner. "...An all new adventure. Or something along those lines. Am I making sense? Is it too sappy?"

Voluntary Cake Taster Here

[senorita_perfecta]

It would be a shame if Isabela didn’t consider trying to help out in another wedding following the great success she had in creating tons of floral arrangements for Eustace and Tifa’s wedding a month ago. Granted, her culinary expertise isn’t as extensive as that of her own mother but who can’t say no to cake?

So when she entered the Lady of Bliss, she is greeted by music she hasn’t heard of before and seeing tea mice scrambling about in doing different tasks. Normally a normal person would scream in horror upon seeing a mouse, but Isabela has seen her uncle having tons of rat friends scrambling about in and around Casita, so mice aren’t something she is afraid of.

“Hello, is there anyone here?” Isabela calls out as she enters the building, hoping to see what Madhuri is making.

[songbird_slayer]

The mice seem relieved to see someone, but quickly skitter to hide behind a display of flowers in a vase. Some people did find the sight of them disgusting in a place like this, so they always did their best to keep themselves out of sight for later doting and reassurance by 'Mom'.

"Oh, yes! Come in, come in, I'm just finishing up!" Okay, smooth down this layer, make it presentable for the slicing, CATCH THIS WOODEN SPOON BEFORE IT HITS THE FLOOR- whew- and back to the layer.

"Dusk save me, I don't know how in the world Ser Eustace and Tifa kept their composure...!"

[senorita_perfecta]

Isabela gasps in shock as the wooden spoon Madhuri is using slips out of her hand and nearly falls to the ground but luckily she is able to catch it before it could hit the floor. Honestly, she was very scared that it could have hit the floor much sooner than expected.

“Whoa! Are you okay? I thought that I just saw a spoon nearly falling to the ground while you’re finishing up frosting the cakes.”

[songbird_slayer]

"I'm- I'm well! I... ooh..." She paused and stepped back. Okay, this would just have to be the way. Keep it simple, focus on the elaborates later. This was supposed to be fun, not scary.

"I hadn't realized how... hectic... planning a wedding would be, if I'm honest. I wound up making six types of cake flavor but need to try and narrow it down to two or three."

A pause, then she looked up at nothing. The music still played.

"Oh, you...! Enough of the dramatics! This is a place of bliss!" She swept at the air, as if trying to dispel something airborne, and the music quieted.

"If even my Echo is haywire, I'm... taking on more than I can battle."

lmk if you want any adjustments - alisaie is at your disposal!

[leveillpier]

Alisaie peeks into the Lady of Bliss momentarily, attempting to locate a certain xaela. Her arms were full of ingredients or whatever decorative from the list that Madhuri had given her. How she was convinced to do this, who knows? Maybe the sweets and the tea were calling to her. Regardless, she was ever the overachiever and came back with exactly what Madhuri needed. She even noticed that the xaela was very focused on the task at hand.

There were a few knocks with one hand on the side of the entrance before she stepped in.

“You should probably take a break. Hasn’t it been hours since you started?”

Looks good to me!

[songbird_slayer]

"Huh!?" Gods, that's a heart attack there. She hadn't expected Alisaie to be back so soon! Hadn't she just left? But when she pulled away and checked a chronometer, the woman groaned.

"Oh... I-I suppose I have..." How did time get eaten so quickly? She remembered when the days were easygoing and slow. But she'd never had to prepare for something like this before... just, y'know, preparing for big battles against the world's end in some fashion.

"Goodness, is that everything? Thank you." She wiped her sugar-dusted hands off on her apron before turning to the kettle.

"Why don't you set everything on any old table there, and I'll get you set up with tea and whatever you'd like from the case?"

/o/ sorry I have been kind of miserable sick for the last two days ;;

[leveillpier]

Was she so focused that she didn't realize the time? She supposed that made sense since Madhuri felt like someone who puts their all into everything. Though, it only concerned the Elezen more because of that. How was this girl going to survive her own wedding if she worked herself so hard like this?

Alisaie's frown deepened, "All the more reason for you to put all that down and rest," she mused pausing before nodding her head, "Aye. This should be everything on the list you gave me. If something is missing, I can make another trip."

"Why don't you take a seat and I'll finish up the tea? Mayhap, you can suggest from the case since there are so many choices?"

Aw, don't worry about it. Hope you feel better soon!

[songbird_slayer]

Boy, everyone's just telling her to take a seat, huh? But her legs begged for rest and she wasn't sure if she could keep this up for much longer. With a sigh she agreed and went to take a seat.

"Alright, if I must... ah, the case- try the sfogliatelle. It's a crispy outside and filled with vanilla custard." She settled on down and her legs turned to lead. Yeah, she needed the sit.

"I wish I knew half of what I was doing. Food is my specialty, but I've never attended a wedding until Ser Eustace and Tifa's..."

[censorshipnutkin]

Thancred had half been expecting the message from Madhuri... or one from G'raha... after the announcement of their wedding. And he doubly wasn't surprised that she was asking about cake assistance.

So, a little while later, he arrives at her place, Zinny wandering a few steps behind, knocking on the door before wandering in.

"Going to be blunt here Madhuri... why aren't you getting more help with this?"

[songbird_slayer]

She was just putting the finishing touch upon one of six 4-inch cakes, swiping buttercream against the corners before placing a single almond at the top.

"...I... don't wish to be a bother, perhaps?" She lifted her gaze to him with a sunny smile, but her hands was shaky in gathering up that teacup. The xaela helped herself to a drink and a moment of respite.

"Raha would say they're all good, and though I love him very dearly, I can't rightly serve six entire cakes. Right?" A pause, and she gestured to the cakes.

"So I ask for taste testers. That's sort of getting help. Hah."

[censorshipnutkin]

"Hmph." He walks over and has a seat nearby, raising an eyebrow at the shaking hands. "It's a wedding. More specifically, YOUR wedding. This place probably has businesses who could make a cake for you so you don't have to stress about it."

He nods at the tea mice as he takes the cup from them. Taking a small sip, he gives her a look.

"But I know you, you don't want to bother people. So, what's the options here?"

[songbird_slayer]

The mice seem grateful for the company. They twitch their noses up at him before they move off to one of the nearest wooden beams and climb their way up.

"There's an unspoken baker's code, you see- I would be surrendering my pride as a baker if I had someone else do it." She took a breath and took up the knife, beginning to take very small slices from each and arrange them on an awaiting platter with forks.

"So I want to shrink down the options to two, perhaps three. I have almond, marble, champagne, spice, lemon and red velvet. They're all my tried and true recipes, but I'm trying to have a bite that I can imbue with dreamotion to suit the mood." A pause.

"Er, there's no dreamotion in these right now, I should say. I don't want to give you the ol' love punch; I've had my fill with the mistletoe anyway."

[nomoresharks]

"...oh dear."

Between the dramatic music and the frantic whirlwind of baking, Hythlodaeus decides it would be safer to linger in the doorway for now, a hand resting on his chin as he tried to determine the best time to step in.

"I think... it might be time for you to sit down." His voice is raised ever so slightly in order to be heard upon the dessert-ous din, and little by little he makes his way into the kitchen.

[songbird_slayer]

Was there ever a good time to step into something like this? One who may think she wasn't a fighter could perhaps see such effects with the way she stacked things up and drew the spreader like a blade before finishing the frosting.

"Huh!?" She jerked with the sound and looked up.

"Ooh, but I'm on a roll! Once I finished these last two, I'll sit! ...I think I've tasted the buttercream a few too many times, I'm almost half made of confectioner's sugar at this point. Must work off the energy!"

[nomoresharks]

Hythlodaeus hums thoughtfully and folds his arms, looking the chaotic kitchen over once more. While cooking may be far from his area of expertise, there is something here he knows very well how to deal with.

And it seems it might be time for him to step forward into a battle of his own.

"Really? And you've already done so much. Very impressive indeed." He cocks his head to the side. "May I ask how long you've been working today?"

Fashionably late, hope the food's not cold

[imp_resario]

At eleven o'clock and one second precisely, the door swung open with a soft jingle of chimes. And good thing for the beleaguered boulanger, too, that he never did anything by half-measures; he was already dressed in an apron by the time he'd walked in, complete with his own set of pastry whisks and spatulas already practically spilling out of the pockets. For a moment he'd wondered if he'd overprepared.

But when he saw the state of disarray, he knew he'd been vindicated. He rolled up his sleeves, hurriedly slinking over to Madhuri.

"You weren't kidding. Where do you need me? Icing? Mixing? Fondant decorations?"

You're right on time.

[songbird_slayer]

Duskmother's tits, the little red guy is a sight for sore eyes. The question had her looking over the spread to take stock of where she was while she was bouncing here and there.

"Icing! Buttercream's in the blue bowl, spatulas are in the drawer if you need more. I just need these simply frosted and cut into sample sizes." Her hands were shaking as she took up a knife and started shaving off the top of another layer to smooth it out.

"Thank you... Pardon the irony, but you're an angel!"

[imp_resario]

"Hardly."

A frosting whisk and a silicone spatula were whipped out from his pockets with an pistolero-styled twirling flourish as he stepped into the icing assembly line, shoving the bowl into place with a touch of his tail.

"I've crossed paths with angels before, Maddie. They could learn a thing or two about decadence."

But once he was face-to-face with the frosting bowl, he... blinked. Even seeming a little surprised, if not disappointed.

"Is this... Really? Just buttercream?"

slides in late with starbucks

[removal]

[ Cake was not one of the things that Phantom consumed regularly, if at all; the sugar content was not so good for his figure, and the cream tended to upset his throat... in the real world, that is. His illness has been slowed considerably by the efforts of those he had met here, allowing him more freedom to explore... or in this case, simply lend a hand.

Phantom's ears catch the unusual music coming from Madhuri's bakery, wondering if he should call out to her lest he disturbs her focus. He stands near the doorway for a while before Miss Christine leaps off his shoulder and makes a beeline for the three mice.

Don't worry, she won't eat them.... probably. Most likely. ]

[songbird_slayer]

[The mice can smell a predator, fluff up and look to see what was going on. The three of them panic at the sight of Miss Christine and scramble over each other to seek a place to hide.

Madhuri canted her head, hunched over a cake she was finishing frosting.]

O-oh! Come in, please. Take a seat anywhere. I'll be finished in... in a few minutes...? A few minutes.

[She doesn't normally sweat while working this way, but she had definitely seen better days.]

[removal]

[ Miss Christine pauses, peering at the fleeing mice with curiosity before turning away to settle herself on a nearby table. Phantom takes the cue and sits down at said table, though his attention is still on Madhuri and the cake she is bustling over. ]

Alright. Take your time.

[ He presumes this is for her wedding. ]