Belldandy hummed a happy little tune as she looked over the kitchen counter. She had basic pots, pans, knives, forks, and spoons out. She turned around to maker sure everything was spotlessly clean.
Perfect.
She was so glad Kasumi phoned ahead. It gave her just enough time to get ready for...
*Ding dong*!
Smiling, Belldandy left the kitchen and headed for the living room. Walking past Skuld who was playing a videogame on the TV, she made it to the door and opened. “Hello there, Cassandra,” She greeted happily. “It’s good to see you again.”
Alex smiled and bowed politely to Belldandy. “Thank you so much for accepting, Belldandy. I really appreciate your help.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.” She smiled as she saw Watermelon and Bubblegum moving about the front yard, scratching at the ground with their claws. “Oh the poor kitties must be bored...” She smiled. “Maybe we can fix that.”
Alex blinked. “You know... I was going to ask about them. How did you end up with two of those?” It was the first time the Siberian Weretigress heard of huge tigers with those colors. Green fur with pink stripes and pink fur with green stripes.
“Oh, it’s all thanks to Urd and her friend,” The Goddess told her as if it explained all. “Aren’t they such nice pets?”
Alex looked at the huge tigers playing around in the yard and smiled. “They do seem kind of cute.”
Belldandy nodded her head. “Shall we get inside now? There’s a lot to go over.”
“Thank you,” The werecat said and stepped into the house.
Belldandy smiled and lead Alex through the living room, past her little sister...
...Whom was NOW playing a fighting game against a tiny ninja. The couch was aligned with over a dozen of those little buggers as spectators.
Alex decided it was better if she didn’t ask. She just walked after Belldandy trying to forget what she saw.
After a few more steps, they reached the kitchen.
It was spotless...
Pristine...
Shiny...
Worthy of being the cover of ‘Martha Stewart: Modern Living’!
Needless to say, Alex was more than a little intimidated.
Belldandy looked at Alex. Smiling reassuringly, she told the white weretigress. “Don’t worry, Cassandra. It’s just a kitchen.”
“Uh... Right...” Alex stepped in a little nervously. “You can call me Alex if you want, Belldandy.”
“Oh, all right, Alexandra,” Belldandy said with a respectful tone. “Now, tell me. What do you know about cooking?”
“... That you need a stove for it?” Alex said in embarrassment. So she’d always lived on take-out or microwave stuff before...
Belldandy’s smile didn’t falter. “Oh! So you know about the stove. Do you know how to boil water?”
“I think I can manage,” Alex said returning a small smile. This was good so far. Belldandy didn’t seem to be running for the hills yet.
“Okay. We’ll start there.” Belldandy went over to the sink with a small pot, filling it with water. “Remember, Alexandra. The stove should be put to seventy-five degrees Farenheight or thirty-six Celcius if you want to get the water to boil safely without making it too hot too fast.”
Alex nodded, it seemed logical to her.
Moving away from the sink, Belldandy smiled and handed the pot of water to Alex. “Care to try what I told you? Set the stove and put the pot on the burner.”
The weretigress did as told and pretty soon she had water about to boil. It wasn’t that she was a walking disaster in the kitchen. She’d never actually dedicated any time to be in one before.
Belldandy nodded. “That’s wonderful. You have the first step down. Now...” The woman grinned beautifully. “What shall we do with our boiling water? Maybe make some hard-boiled eggs?”
Alex smiled. If this was how it was going to be, learning how to cook was going to be a breeze. “That sounds wonderful.”
Belldandy nodded her head. She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton with one dozen eggs. “Now, you don't just throw the eggs in. You need to do something special with them,” The kind woman explained. “We have a tool we call an ‘egg-puncher’.”
“Doesn’t that just smash the eggs?” Alex asked, it sure sounded like it did.
“Not at all,” Belldandy walked over to a drawer and opened it. She then held up a small piece of curved plastic with a needle in the center of it. “You gently pierce the top of the egg so there’s ventilation. This allows the yolk and asebum to cook thoroughly as they’re boiled. Allow me to demonstrate.”
The werecat watched attentively.
Holding the egg-puncher firmly in one hand, she then Gently brought the egg down on it, twisting it first back and forth as the pin-tip worked the shell. It soon slowly and flawlessly slid into the egg. Belldandy then lifted the egg off the short needle and smiled. “Now it’s ready.” She then placed the egg in the boiling water on the stove.
Reaching over, Belldandy picked up another egg. She held out both egg-puncher and egg out towards her student. “Want to try?”
“That looked... Easy. Sure!” Alex took the egg-puncher and the egg and did the same Belldandy did before.
*Crack*!
The weretigress sweat-dropped as she saw the now smashed egg in her hands.
Belldandy smiled as she reached over and opened one of the lower drawers of the kitchen cabinet. She held out a towel for Alex. “Want to try again?”
“Thank you. And yes. I’ll be more careful this time.” How was she to know her superior strength would work against her on this. She took another egg and gently pushed, almost fearfully. She smiled as she pierced the egg successfully this time.
Belldandy smiled. “See? That’s not so bad.”
Alex nodded and placed the egg in the boiling water. “Yeah. Maybe this cooking stuff isn’t so hard, after all.” Little did she know preparing boiled eggs was nothing.
Belldandy couldn’t help but giggle as she continued to punch a few more eggs with holes.
Alex just smiled widely as she felt, for the first time, that she was making progress in something any wife should.
After getting the rest of the eggs in there, Belldanbdy said. “Now we’ll let the eggs cook for another fifteen minutes. In the meantime, we’ll use the sink and I’ll show you how to wash vegetables.”
Alex blinked. “Don’t you just use soap and that’s it?”
Raising her hand to her lips, Belldandy giggled. “You don’t use soap, period. You just thoroughly wash vegetables with constant running water.”
“Really?” The weretigress asked in surprise.
Belldandy nodded. “Yes. Watch.” To make her point, Belldandy pointed to stalks of celery that she already had by the side of the sink on a sheet of plastic. Walking over to the sink, she turned it on and then held a few stalks in her hands, holding them underneath the running water, gently rubbing them with her fingers.
“Cooking has to be gentle, doesn’t it?” Alex asked in realization.
Belldandy nodded her head. “Of course. It’s not fighting or sex.” She said, neither the look nor air of innocence leaving her, even after she said THAT!
Alex blushed. How could Belldandy talk about sex as easily as that!?
After a moment, a thought hit Belldandy. She turned to Alex and asked, “You see how I’m rubbing this celery here?”
“Yes?” Alex asked, wondering where this was going.
“That’s how I can so gently wash these,” Belldandy explained. “I pretend its dear Keiichi I’m rubbing. Now, if you think of it like that, there’s no way you’d do anything rough when cleaning vegetables like these... Unless you like hurting Ranma...”
Alex blushed, but nodded at the analogy. She could definitely understand, but she'd be all flustered whenever she was cooking then.
Belldandy continued to watch the vegetables a bit more before placing the clean veggies at the other side of the sink. “Care to clean the rest?”
“Sure...” Alex said and took Belldandy’s place. She blushed brightly, and was thankful for her fur, as she did a remarkable job of being gentle.
Belldandy nodded her head. “That’s some good washing. Your fiancé is a lucky man.”
Now the blush underneath her fur managed to show. “Thank you for doing this, Belldandy. I really appreciate it.” The weretigress said and took the next vegetable.
After a few more minutes, the vegetables were washed. “Now, I shall show you how to cut them. For the celery, I want you to try and get the bottom parts of the bushel-tops even.”
Alex nodded and took the knife in her hand. She didn’t have much trouble with cutting the vegetables.
Belldandy watched attentively nodding her head. “Don’t cut at the the bushel top. That isn’t eaten in the recipe we’re working on so don’t bother. Just cut them off.”
“Right,” Alex answered seriously and did as told. Maybe all that work with tools as a mechanic did help her here.
The Goddess nodded her head as Alex cut those vegetables in no time. “You’re VERY good with a knife.”
“I have to be,” Alex said, glad for some conversation she could partake in. “There’s a lot of stuff I have to do with my hands while working on engines.”
“Engines? Oh, are you a mechanic?” Belldandy asked with great interest. “My Keiichi is a really good mechanic. He even rebuilt one of the two experimental Japanese Navy Fighter planes, the ‘Shinden’.”
Alex perked up at that. “Really? He must be very good, then. I’m more of a pilot than a mechanic, but I have to know a little bit of it to keep my planes in flying condition.”
Belldandy smiled. “That’s just how good Keiichi is with machines. The one Keiichi repaired was ‘Shinden Prototype II’, and he repaired it with motorcycle and car parts.”
Now Alex was impressed. Definitely impressed. “I have to meet him and ask how he managed that.”
“He managed because he wanted it to work,” Belldandy explained. “He spent a week repairing it with some help and got it off the ground after it had found the majority of the pieces buried underneath the college campus.”
“You definitely have to introduce me to him.” The weretigress blinked. “Hey! Why don’t you bring him to the hangar sometime? I can repay you for the cooking lessons by taking you two to enjoy the sights all over Japan.”
“Oh, that could be fun,” Belldandy admitted. “Keiichi loves traveling as well. He even had me take part in a cross-country competition with him. We rode in a Mazda that was retro-fitted for off-road specialty.”
Alex shook her head in disbelief. “You definitely have to introduce me to him.”
“Oh, you can meet him after the cooking lesson,” Belldandy said. “He’s home right now, probably in the garage working on something.”
“Thank you,” Alex said and was definitely glad to be here. Belldandy was such a nice person.
Belldandy smiled. “Now, I think those eggs should be ready...”
And so the two women continued on the cooking lesson, little knowing it would lead to a long and gratifying friendship.
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(Posted Fri, 05 May 2006 02:23)
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