3rd Floor CR, Sunday Evening

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

Claire decided that she was obviously delusional, homesick or both. Those were the only possible explanations for taking up the common room kitchen in an attempt to make a pot roast from her mother's recipe. Ruth's recipe wasn't entirely clear, and there were a couple of ingredients that either weren't available on this coast or were no longer made at all. The whole thing was giving her a migraine and she was remembering why she didn't cook.

Vegetables sliced and oven preheated, Claire stood on the counter, rooting through a cabinet for Lipton soup mix. She tried not to curse too loudly.

Momentarily forgotten, the TV blared a Z-Cases rerun.

[OOC: Open like a CR, yep.]

Comments

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley stuck his head in the common room.

"Dude, I love this show," he said.

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"I haven't watched it in forever," Claire claimed, hopping down from the counter. "Hey, Hurley. Do you know how to make pot roast?"

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Ummm, does it involve more than putting it in a pot and letting it roast?" he offered. He walked in to be properly in the common room.

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

Claire just looked at him for a beat, trying to decide if he was kidding. "My mom's recipe has eight steps," she said, gesturing vaguely to the moddable recipe sitting on the counter near the hacked-up vegetables. "And that's without gravy."

"Why am I even thinking about gravy? I don't really cook."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"What's the pot roast for?" Hurley said, reading over the recipe. "I mean, this is usually, like, family dinner stuff, right?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"I don't even know," Claire admitted. "My mom called, she's kind of in some weird self-help mood and that made me miss her and I think I decided to feed the floor."

"Or," she added, popping some raw carrot into her mouth, "I was really bored."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley chuckled. "I get it," he said. "I ever start suddenly making a ton of empanadas? Totally for the same reasons."

He looked over the recipe. "What part are you on?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"I'm making the basting sauce thingy," Claire said. "The potatoes and stuff are all cut up, and the oven's hot, but she needs onion soup mix and I swear it doesn't even exist any more."

She looked at Hurley, curious. "So is your mom a good cook? It's, like, all mine does."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"She's okay," Hurley said. "I usually end up eating out a lot, though."

He skimmed through some of the cupboards.

"I'm sure there's soup mix somewhere."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Toss it here if you find it," Claire said absently. "That's cool, with the eating out. Mine freaks if I don't eat a home-cooked meal at least twice a day. And then she always gets weird about what I eat or don't eat."

A beat. "My mom's kind of old."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Oh, my mom totally freaks too. She... well, yeah, I mean, you can see why she think I should be eating better and stuff," he said.

He grinned. "Bingo." He pulled a box from a cabinet. "Onion soup mix."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Favorite person," Claire said, reaching for the box. She wasn't going to comment on Hurley's weight, even if he did ask for it. "Wanna open an envelope and just dump it on top? Kinda sprinkle it around."

"I'm the baby," she added. "I guess that's why my mom gets kind of ..." She waved a hand vaguely. "Nuts. My brothers swear she wasn't quite as bad for them."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Me too," Hurley said. "Though I only have one brother." He ripped open a packet of the soup mix and sprinkled it in. "Which is more than enough, cause he's an idiot."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Something smelled divine, and Alice was nosy enough that she was willing to poke her head in and investigate.

"Is that for everyone?" she asked. "Or I suppose not everyone, since there are rather a lot of people in this dorm, and I can't fathom making enough food for all of them. I suppose I'm only really curious about me, selfishly."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"I have one who's kind of an idiot and one who's a funeral director," Claire said. "I mean, I guess they're both funeral directors now, but Nate only started last Christmas. How come yours is an idiot?"

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Diego has been arrested for public nudity," Hurley said. "I think that kinda speaks for itself."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" Claire took a second to process that. "Yeah, there should be enough for you. It just needs, like ..." she checked the timer. "fifteen minutes. Pot roast."

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

Harry had gone wandering. He needed a break from his roomie (and his roomie's Death Flu from Outer Space, or wherever). So he'd left Seregil in the care of Nurse Bob. Poor, poor Seregil.

Harry's wanderings, and his nose, had led him here.

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Dude," Claire exclaimed, trying not to giggle. "Was he doing something dirty or was he just randomly naked?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

Claire had collapsed onto the couch as the pot roast cooked. 'Hey," she called carelessly to the new arrival. "There'll be food in 15 minutes or so."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"The way he told it, it was an accident," Hurley said. "I'm still not sure I believe him."

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

Harry grinned.

"Awesome. I love food."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Jamie walked into the room... well he was walking on his hands.

"BORED!" he cried out. "Entertain me now before I do something stupid."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"What, like bam his clothes dissolved?"

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I should have introduced myself," Alice said, drawing herself up properly. "My name is Alice Liddell, and I have a tendency to wander into common rooms that aren't mine when things seem interesting. You're welcome to tell me to get lost, I assure you, as that's rather rude to burst in and lay claims to other people's cooking. Or I could help, if you'd like."

Alice failed at conversation, most days.