Third floor common room [afternoon]

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat had nothing to do on Wednesdays, which meant that he slept in until it was borderline criminal (and the yellow paint on the walls of his room gave him a headache), then poked around looking for something to entertain him.

Today he had settled on tossing dice in the third floor common room and hoping someone would come along who could cook for him. The burnt remains of what had been a package of bacon in the trash can--and the smoke in the room--would let people know how Mat's first attempt at fending for himself had worked out.

Comments

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Following her literature class, Alex wandered on down to the common room in an attempt to do something productive with the rest of her afternoon. Plus, she was in the mood for some soup.

The smoke in the room caught her off guard, just a little. "Something not go according to plan?" She'd had her cooking mishaps too.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"There was something wrong with the bacon," Mat complained.

Namely, that it had been wrapped in plastic. Mat's world hadn't come up with that yet.

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex frowned slightly at that.

"Is there another package? Could attempt it one more time," she suggested. "If not, I was going to make some soup. You're welcome to some if you want." Alex could be generous when she wanted.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat flashed her one of his brightest smiles. "I think soup sounds like a better idea. I'm bloody useless when it comes to cooking anything that isn't stuck on a stick and toasted over an open flame."

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex chuckled lightly. "I used to be like that, until I learned from my parents. Working in my family's sandwich shop helps too."

They sold other items along with their subs, but those were what they were known for. "Any preference as far as the soup goes? I can make just about any kind." Alex hadn't yet decided on the type to make.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I'm easy," Mat said, winking. "Anything you'd like to cook, I'll be happy to eat."

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

"I'll be sure to remember that," Alex laughed, clearly teasing. "Hmm, then chicken soup it is."

And no, Alex wasn't spending time cooking the chicken. That would take too long. The chicken just need to be thrown into the soup and all would be well. So what if it was cheating just a bit?

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy was just intending to grab a mug of hot chocolate or something on the way back to her room after class. She hesitated as she got into the common room on her way to the kitchen area, and wrinkled her nose.

"What is that smell?" she asked, quite matter of fact. Effy knew burnt things, and that one was definitely not just food.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Bacon," Mat admitted, pulling a face. "It turns out that I'm a bloody terrible cook."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"So am I." Effy was perfectly happy to admit that one. She really was. Never going to be fifties housewife material. Hot chocolate and cereal was about her limit.

"Can't find a common room with someone giving something away?" Around here, that usually seemed to be the case.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Well, that involved getting up and moving, and the couch here was quite comfortable," Mat replied. "So I decided instead to wait for someone to come in and save me from a life of bread and water."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy gave a bit of a laugh, and shook her head. "Don't think I'm the best person to help with that," she said. While she probably could, there were bound to be others better suited to all that.

"Tend to do the same thing." People around here were so helpful when it came to that sort of thing. "Lot more relaxing."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Mat agreed, grinning at her. "Let the people who enjoy cooking cook. I enjoy eating and laying around. We should all stick to our strengths."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen had followed her nose to the room, hoping the room itself wasn't actually on fire. "Whatever happened here?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Of course he'd had gotten a bloody stream of women coming into the room to wonder what he'd done wrong, Mat thought sourly. Women would walk a thousand miles to tell a man it was his fault.

"I can't bloody cook," Mat replied with a smile. "Can you?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen blinked at him. "Yes, actually. Did you want some help?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat wanted someone to cook for him, really. "Please," he said, beaming. "The bacon was a complete disaster."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I can see that," Helen said dryly. "Was there something in particular you were trying to cook or was it just the bacon?"

She was already looking through the shelves to see what there might be available.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Bacon I recognized, so I tried to cook bacon," Mat replied.

[weldedtomyspine]

"At least you can't burn the dice? At least... I hope you can't."

That was a 'hi'.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"They're my favorite pair, so I'll try not to," Mat said with a smile. "And I've never be that hungry."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Hey, around here you never know," Jaime laughed. "Though... what did the bacon ever do to you?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Mat admitted. "It was never this difficult to cook at home."

It had also never been wrapped in plastic there.

[weldedtomyspine]

"Maybe," Jaime glanced at the dice in amusement, "you were just unlucky."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"That hardly ever happens," Mat said with a laugh.