[Open]

[suspense_kills_me]

Who: Red and You!
Where: The Kitchens
When: April 7th
Rating: G/PG
Summary: The Real OTP of the Blacklist? Red/Food

The Story:

It'd been a while since Red's decided to cook anything for anyone beside himself but today, was a different story. Red spends most of his day in the kitchen of the mansion making a meal Dembe taught him how to make years ago, fenugreek porridge, a Sudanese dish that's believed to soothe troubled stomachs, and other various aches and pains. Red figures since there's a war coming on, a number of the residents of Wonderland might need something medicinal to help with their stresses.

He'll also take requests from anyone who happens to come into the kitchen, assuming they can put up with his singing.

Your table manners are a cryin' shame
You're playin' with your food, this ain't some kind of game
Now, if you starve to death, you'll just have yourself to blame
So eat it, just eat it

You better listen, better do what you're told
You haven't even touched your tuna casserole
You better chow down or it's gonna get cold
So eat it

Comments

i can't believe...

[beatupgrass]

Rocket just came in here to steal a mixer that he could have easily taken from the closets, but something about hijacking things fills a void in his thieving heart. He is a simple mammal with simple needs.

He was not expecting this, and he finds himself standing in the doorway just... observing.

"Well, now I've seen everything."

[suspense_kills_me]

Red wasn't expecting this either, or at least he wasn't expecting it to manifest itself quite like this.

"The song or the fenugreek porridge?"

[beatupgrass]

"Honestly, the singing ain't as weird as the cooking for some reason." The singing at least has context. "Definitely not a skill I'd have assigned to you, dude."

A beat. "Unless you suck at it, and your way of copin' with this event is by poisoning everybody."

[suspense_kills_me]

"I'm full of surprises." Which Red likes to think is true. "And based on some of the singing I've heard around here, a lot of us need to spend more time in the music room."

He stirs what he's making on the stove few more times.

"Good food's important. After months spent in a prison in Laos, my attorney sent me tins of caviar. I couldn't be more grateful. From that point on, I try to make something comforting in times of stress."

[beatupgrass]

He doesn't know what caviar is, but it sounds pretentious. Rocket, meanwhile, is hunting for beer and maybe some jerky. However, whatever Red's got cooking there does smell really good, and he's been denied home cooking since, uh...

Well, 90% of his life except for the occasional meal Drax has been known to cook, and that's only been since recently.

He sniffs the air a bit to get a better whiff- yep still smells divine... Be cool about it, Rocket. Be cool. "You're tellin' me. My ears are ringin' from all that squawkin' everyone's doing."

[suspense_kills_me]

"This'll be done in about five minutes or so."

Caviar is pretentious, made even more so that Red was in solitary confinement, and his attorney, Marvin, was in prison thousands of miles away.

"I have yet to hear anyone sing well. A friend of mine was singing about her dog chewing on things." Red shakes his head, "I think this event might be worse than the one with all the neon."

Though it was kinder on the eyes.

[beatupgrass]

Rocket curses under his breath for not BEING COOL ENOUGH, but if he's about to be finished and there's nothing worth it in the fridge, he'll just take his beer and pry off the top with his claws, leaning against one of the cabinets.

"We can go blind and deaf before the Queen of Hearts gets her friggin' army together. Bet the next event goes for our sense of smell."

Okay, maybe he's a little bit fixated on that delicious food smell.

[suspense_kills_me]

"That would be terrible."

And that coming from Red, who he was sure had a less advanced sense of smell than someone like Rocket. Besides he won't blame him for being fixated on the smell, it was one of his favorites.

"I never thought you could open a beer with claws."

[beatupgrass]

"I ain't ever had a problem with it. Like they rest of me they're reinforced." He pockets the bottle cap out of habit, more than necessity. You never know when you might need one. "I never have to worry about breakin' a nail... And for some reason work fine with touchscreens, so that was a practical application of science."

He mockingly raises his bottle.

[suspense_kills_me]

"And no irritating fingerprints."

Red turns back toward the stove and checks what he's cooking one last time before dishing out two portions, one for himself and one for Rocket. He's honestly not sure the best way to serve it for someone who is a raccoon, so he puts a spoon by the bowl. Whatever's most comfortable would work for Red.

"Enjoy."

[beatupgrass]

He has extremely dexterous fingers, so he's grateful for the spoon so he can eat like someone who is not an animal, though it wouldn't be the first time he's just buried his face in something and licked the bowl clean.

He lays the beer down on the floor takes the bowl and the spoon and shovels in a mouthful, ears perking up at the taste. "...Shit. That ain't half bad."

Oh wow. A whole compliment from Rocket. What a world we live in.

[suspense_kills_me]

Red wouldn't want anyone to have to eat like an animal, that would be unfair and fairly rude. Rocket talks & clearly has opinions, so Red doesn't see a reason the same as he would treat anyone else in this place.

"Thank you."

Then he helps himself to a bowl.

[theenforcer]

There's singing, and Barbie can't stop thinking about the people they've left behind. It's led to him being fairly well silent a lot, which is to his benefit.

It isn't even the sound of singing that draws him, but the scent of seasonings folks around places like Chester's Mill don't use. Things that while not from the same part of the world, are much more familiar to him than they might be to others.

What he's expecting, this is not it.

Barbie pauses in the doorway, arms folding over his chest as he watches, smiling as he listens.

[suspense_kills_me]

Red is just going to ignore his brief musical interlude. Honestly, he thought he wasn't too bad when it came to singing. Though he would be the first to admit that he was a much better piano player. When he turns to the counter to put the next ingredient into his porridge, he spots barbie by the door.

"Can I get you anything?"

[theenforcer]

Definitely not bad, though the lyrics were what has Barbie smiling. Looking up, he smiles and takes that as an invitation, stepping into the room.

"Curious what you're making, so maybe, yeah. Still not used to food being readily available like it is here."

[suspense_kills_me]

"This is fenugreek porridge. I learned how to make it from my dear friend Dembe back home."

It's a variation on oatmeal really. The grains are a little different but the basics are very similar. Comfort food is something that Red figures people could use.

"Where are you from?"

[theenforcer]

"From? America, though most recently in a town called Chester's Mill. I spent some time in Afghanistan though with my unit though," he admits, not seeing a reason to hide that he spent time in the military.

"So been around a bit with them."

[suspense_kills_me]

"Ah, a friend of Julia's then?"

Military. Great. Hopefully, he's not one of the 'break down doors ask questions later' type.

"I spent some time in the Navy myself."

[theenforcer]

Barbie perks at that, nodding. "Yep, exactly. We came from the same place and found ourselves there. Glad to learn she's had a few people here that know her story."

It meant she is looking into it, and that's important to him.

"I would say congrats but if your time was like mine, maybe not."

[suspense_kills_me]

"It was during the height of the Cold War."

He could take from that what he would. Red's not going to go into too much more detail about his Naval career before that, except...

"Graduated from the Naval Academy, and thrown right into that."

[theenforcer]

"Right, so no congrats," he says with a nod, frowning though as he says it. There's never a congratulations that comes with any of that.

"And now we end up here, and only a few days in and people already talking more war."

[suspense_kills_me]

"There isn't, but anyone who thinks the Cold War is over is delusional. It's just different now."

But that was neither here nor there. Those issues were back home. They had a more immediate threat on their hands.

"So I've heard. What concerns me is what the war will be like. If there's one thing I've learned being here is that nothing is ever straightforward."

[theenforcer]

Barbie is quiet for a few minutes, arms folding over his chest as he looks away. Considering a few words, not sure how to word this.

Finally he sighs.

"How bad can this get? I mean, already I'm seeing how unconventional the weaponry here can be. We're talking shit we don't know, aren't we?"

[suspense_kills_me]

"We are."

In fact, that's probably the understatement of the year. Everything Wonderland does is something Red isn't quite sure of.

"The Queens are powerful. The question really is, how will they use that power?"

[theenforcer]

"Do we have a clue where that power comes from? Besides the things everyone talks about like memories and deaths and all. What are they?"

Because already he suspects "what" not "who" will come up a lot in his thoughts about this place and how it works.

"Is there an extend to their powers that anyone knows of?"

[suspense_kills_me]

"Not that I know of. The most I've gotten out of everyone is that this place runs on memories, and I know I've been tormented enough by my own."

Not that it matters, he still has his memories, even if they've been exploited for unknown reasons.

"The extent of their powers is as much of an unknown."

[theenforcer]

"Which I'm sure is how they like it. On all counts. Easier to control the masses if they don't know how to fight back," he says, nodding, having seen that before. "Same with the constant and spacing of the events. Keeps everyone off balance and means they don't have time to work on the answers. We're all too busy saving ourselves and getting over it."