6th floor kitchen- Thursday evening

[notconflicted]

Sia had spent her day slaving over a hot stove, and finally dinner was ready. She'd gone to freshen up and change into her best dinnerwear, and then began setting the dining room table. Surely the delicious smells wafting downstairs would bring people by any minute now, so they could all talk about their days and avoid upsetting subjects like politics or religion or the growing need for bomb shelters.

Come one, come all! There was enough pot roast to go around!


[Open! Get in here.]

Comments

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Jessica had been out for a walk when she was struck by an idea: she could make a necklace out of the ball that randomly fell out of the sky and had also struck her! It took a while to figure out the particulars of how to make this happen, but now she looked all pretty with it and stuff or whatever.

"Hi!" she said, cheerfully following her nose into the kitchen toward whatever food or candle was making that smell. Hopefully she'd be able to differentiate between the two. "What's for dinner?"

[notconflicted]

"Pot roast! And vegetables, potatoes, rolls and milk, all part of a balanced meal," Sia said proudly.

Potatoes were vegetables, of course, but she wasn't nearly as interested in learning things as she was about making a happy home.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"What are you going to balance it on?" Jessica asked. "Some kind of meal balancer?" Hello, idiot necklace! Nice to meet you.

[notconflicted]

Sia paused, knowing that sounded wrong, but smiled anyway. "Oh, Jessica, you're such a jokester," she said. "I'll put the food out and you can dig right in!"

Well, after grace of course, because we had values in these dorms.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Joke?" Jessica asked herself. Fortunately, she was distracted by the food. "Thank you, Sia! You're the best. You should have a trophy."

[notconflicted]

Sia laughed, starting to set the food out on the table. "Don't be silly. I leave the trophy-getting to the menfolk!"

She was going to kill things when this was over.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"There are girl trophies, too!" Jessica said. "You should get another one for best cookstress." That was the word for a girl cook, right?

[notconflicted]

"You've just invented a word!" Sia told her. "You're so creative. I wish I could be as creative as you."

Instead she could just cook like a mofo. As was good and proper.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"I'm pretty much a genius," Jessica said. "You don't get to be a scienintist without being super-smart. But you're smart too! I don't want to make this a competition thingy."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"I smell dinner," Tony said, taking off his suit jacket after a long day of hunting down communists.

[notconflicted]

"I promise it's delicious," Sia told him. It better be, or she would be a huge disappointment. "I set you a place."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"You sure know the way to a man's heart, Sia." TO HIS HEART? NO. BECAUSE HIS HEART WAS COLD FROM THE COLD WAR.

[notconflicted]

Sia giggled girlishly, because she was available. "Oh, you. I hope dinner's to your liking."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

SIA, YOU HUSSY.

"It always is," he assured her. "You're the best cook I know."

Other than all the other great cooks.

[notconflicted]

Sia looked at him with all the gratitude in the world, and she meant it. "Thank you. That means so much to me."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"One day you'll find the right fellow and he'll appreciate this more than I ever could." WITH HIS COMMUNIST HUNTING WAYS.

Yes, it had to be mentioned. Every damn time.

[notconflicted]

Well, shoot.

"I'm sure you can appreciate it plenty," she told him anyway, because it wouldn't do not to be polite and it never hurt to fawn over a man. They liked it, didn't they?

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

He had a gal in his heart, Sia! A gal that he'd met over in Europe during the war. If he talked about her, there would be alcohol involved. And fast talking.

Possibly a Humphrey Bogart impression.

"You're the best around, dolly."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"So do I!" Jessica said. "It's on the table." Which was where she was sitting. Apparently her sense of smell was strong enough to smell something that was directly in front of her.

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"You got that one right, kiddo," Tony replied, ruffling her hair. Because he was apparently her dad?

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"It just got very dark," Jessica said, after some of her ruffled hair fell in front of her face. "Did the power go out?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you." And no, he didn't fix her hair. Because he was going to get dinner now.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Who said that?" Jessica asked. "Hello? Anyone?"

"It's so dark."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Tony just laughed at her humor, pulling a newspaper out of nowhere to read at the table. Why was he reading when there was dinner right there?

And why was he reading about nuclear war?

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Who's laughing?" Jessica demanded, turning around to... not see? Fortunately, the movement got some of the hair out of her face. "Oh, hey, the lights came back on."