3 AM we seemed alright, on our way into the mingle

[shoujoreject]

Who: SS Caprine + visitors!
Broadcast: Maybe
Action: The Caprine (duh)
When: All month long

[Friends! Ships! Friendships! ... other ships? Maybe!]

Comments

[shoujoreject]

Sort of. I was a waiter, sometimes a bartender - the two are similar, actually.

[He gestures for Dany to come closer, setting a handful of vegetables on the cutting board now that he's done with the noodles. Some approximation of carrots and celery, at least.]

Here. It's not hard to do, but you have to kind of be careful where your hands are. You hold the knife like this- [He shows her, with that gentle, unassuming nature of his, resting the handle loosely in his hand and holding it in place with his thumb and forefinger.] and your other hand goes on the vegetables like this- [His fingers curl until his knuckles jut out in front of them, fingertips resting a half-inch or so back on the pseudocarrot.] sort of like a cat's paw. This way, if you don't lift the whole knife up, the flat side just brushes your knuckles; you can't cut yourself.

[And then, of course, he shows her - rocking the back of the knife up and down, sliding his hands to position them for the next cut.]

[moonofmylife]

[She watches the fluid way he works the knife, captivated that someone could be so skilled with a tool that could easily become a weapon. It was a skill she lacked.]

You're- you're so good at it. I can't hope to be so skilled.

[Seriously how does he avoid cutting himself??? Still, he's a good teacher which is why she tentatively holds her hand out to take the knife and the pseudocarrot so that she can try.]

[shoujoreject]

[Blinking once, he looks up at Dany with an amused smile on his lips.]

I hope you don't think I woke up like this one day. I've been doing this for a long time - my nǎinai - my granny - and my mother taught me starting when I was little. I used to cut really slowly, until I sort of... learned how to feel where the knife was and the material under it was.

[Look, Dany, just go slow with it. YOU'LL BE FINE, PROMISE.]

[moonofmylife]

They sound as if they are wonderful people. The only family I had growing up was my brother. My parents and our eldest brother, his wife, and his children all perished before I was born and my mother perished after giving giving me life.

[Dany does take it slow, cutting the food given to her to practice with with careful movements. She watches what she is doing, her hands moving carefully before she is finished her task.]

[shoujoreject]

I do love my family. [There is a pretty big unspoken 'but' on that sentence, but he ignores it in favour of listening to Dany. The story, such that it is, draws an understanding frown from Qing.]

I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds as though your life was a tough one, but you've risen above it quite remarkably, I think. [He watches her practice, a smile on his face, only leaning in once.]

Here. If you grip a little more lightly and let your wrist swivel, it might help. [His fingers, small and warm, tap gently at her cutting-hand wrist and he leans back again.] It doesn't feel too unnatural, I hope.

[moonofmylife]

It's lead me to some interesting places, I like to think. [She smiles to herself, trying to adjust her hold on the knife when he taps her wrist. She felt less tense this way and hopefully less awkward.]

No, not at all. Thank you. I'm afraid I'm a novice but it's nice to learn something new.

[shoujoreject]

In some measure, I'm a little envious of that. Before here, I never really had anything terribly interesting going on. [Really, but what did she expect herself to be?]

Even masters at their craft tend to have started as novices, after all.

[moonofmylife]

Sometimes, I wonder... though I'm sure everyone does. If things hadn't been the way they were, would I have met the people I did? Or would I even be here? [She laughs lightly, still concentrating on her work and moving on to another vegetable in need of chopping.]

I suppose that's a question for the philosophers. We can make food instead and leave them to it.

[shoujoreject]

That's a natural thing, I agree. How we would change if things were different... it's kind of fun to think about, sometimes.

[And sometimes it makes them think about something they would rather be, but.]

Mm, agreed. Make them the food they need to sustain their philosophical thoughts. [A bright laugh, as he starts to put the chopped vegetables together in a bowl.]