[Day 2 - Dawn/Early Morning] Twitchy's First Meal

[Usagi Zenko]

"Oh hai, I suppose so. I'm used to cleaning them up at Inari's shrine." he shrugs, "Guess there's a different holy quality or something."

He looks about, then pats his obi. "Oh, I did remember!" He grins, and bends down, maneuvering the wood and tinder to catch the spark from his flint and steel. "Thanks Shiba-sama! I'm getting a bit of a lesson today myself. First day on duty and all that."

[Shiba Nozomi]

She seems pretty thrilled to be asked to help and her small hands find their way to the bucket in rather short order."T-Today, the bucket sounds w-wonderful. Perhaps tomorrow, a-after the breakfast meal and b-before my shift starts, w-we can do the r-rest."

A tiny wavery smile alights on her lips at the Hare's enthusiasm. "We all have s-something to learn, neh?"

[Usagi Zenko]

"Hai, such is very true." His words are a bit muffled, seeing as he's bent partly inside the stove, working on getting the fire going.

[Shiba Nozomi]

Nozomi knows a quick summoning of the fire kami would have the stove roaring in no time... and she was pretty sure the fire kami around here were sorely lacking in attention, despite the number of shugenja running about. But she well understood the social and practical concerns of such an act and quietly keeps the thought to herself.

She looks down into the bucket and smiles as a rock of the ship causes the water inside to splash very softly.

[Volsung]

As the fire catches, Cook steps up and quickly starts putting pots and pans and skillets on the large surface. "No time to waste now, Usagi-sama. We're already running a bit behind schedule and I won't have the crew belly-aching because of it." She didn't shoo the tiny Shiba but from her stance it was apparent that anyone not cooking should take a few steps back and let the cooks get to work.

For the most part, the older cook took care of the more demanding aspects of the cooking, leaving simpler things to the Usagi for now while she was getting a feel for his abilities.

[Shiba Nozomi]

Nozomi, who already didn't take up much space in the first place, scoots herself into a corner where she'll be out of the way. She still retains her hold on the bucket, and watches both Supaisu and the Usagi's movements while cooking with careful consideration.

[Usagi Zenko]

"Hai! Of course!" He nods a bit, and starts cleaning the vegetables for the meal, before slicing them. He hums a bit while doing so.

"Do we compensate the amount of salt in the meal, based on the smell of it in the air here?" he asks, knife busily chopping away at the vegetables.

[Volsung]

"Ya get used to the salty taste of the food and too often sweets are too expensive to add to every meal to hide the sour. But when we can we try to balance it out a bit. Stews and soups are common because vegetables and water will dilute the taste of salt." The cook continued chatting merrily as she went about slicing the fish, adding the spices and butter and going about the normal business of cooking on a ship.

[Shiba Nozomi]

Wishing she could be of more substantial help, Nozomi contents herself with simply closely watching what the others are doing.

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods at that, being careful to watch his own cooking.

"Are there any kinds of fish here that you prepare differently then you find in the rivers and lakes of Rokugan?" he asks, innocently enough.

[Volsung]

"Oh certainly. There are hundreds more types of ocean fish than there are river fish. And river fish tend to be much bonier. A lot more work to get them ready."

Cook moved on to another skillet where she was cooking several vegetables to add to the main dish.

[Usagi Zenko]

"H..hundreds?" He groans a little. "Going to take some time before I know how to cook all of those then..." he shakes his head. "Let alone be able to identify them."

[Volsung]

Cook grinned. "Hai, well with any luck you'll have plenty of time to learn, neh Usagi-sama?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods. "Hai, true enough. I just hope I never have to cook one of those island turtles. No idea how something that large would taste." he shudders a little at the thought of it.

[Volsung]

"Surprisingly tender, actually. If you do it right." Supaisu chimes in with a smile.

She starts finishing up her own part of the meal as the Hare is finishing his up as well.

[Usagi Zenko]

His eyebrows raise up..."The turtles that carry islands on their backs? Those ones?" his sense of belief is being firmly stretched at this point...the idea of someone actually cooking one of them...

[Volsung]

"Oh! Those turtles." Cook chuckled. "I thought you were talking about the turtles found on the Mantis islands. Those are rather monstrous turtles. Reminds me of another story. But I suppose that's for another time, neh? Breakfast is just about ready and that means hungry mouths will soon be approaching."

[Usagi Zenko]

"Hai. Captain told me about the big ones." he smiles... "Breakfast seems pretty important this morning."

He looks out to the galley. "Hope they like it."

[Volsung]

Cook laughed. "Of course they will. They always do as long as luck remains with the ship." She starts collecting the pots, looking over to the quiet Shiba in the corner. "Now then. Help us get these pots set up to serve. They'll be coming for breakfast soon."

[Shiba Nozomi]

Nozomi had been intently watching how everything was prepared, trying to make a mental catalogue of it all. Upon the cook's instruction, she nods quickly, "Hai, Cook-sensei!"

Carefully she places the bucket of water aside, but still within easy reach of the stove, and grabs a loose cloth around the handles of the pots, just in case they were still hot. Glad she could be of help, she begins to lift one to a place where the samurai can either be served or have easy access to it and arranges the others carefully around it.
"L-like so?"