Second Floor Common Room - Sunday Morning

[canlendanear]

Alara had been to the gym for her usual morning workout and now that she didn’t have that to focus on, decided to head to the common room.

Rather than order in she decided to try something a bit different and try her hand at cooking something, which admittedly it had been a while but she thought she’d see if she could try and make something from home.

So she decided to try her hand at making sweetened Gupsela, or at least as close a version to it since some of the ingredients could only be found on Xelaya but there was enough ingredients in the fridge and cupboards that she could make do and she was enjoying the process of making her planet’s version of comfort food, she put one batch in the fridge and she was making extra in case anyone else stopped by.


[open!]

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[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Oh, are you cooking?" Belle asked, poking her head into the room. "What are you making?"

[canlendanear]

“I’m making a dish called Sweetened Gupsela from my world,” Alara explained, “or it’s similar, I had to be a bit creative with the ingredients but the taste should still be the same, would you like to try some?” she offered, “I made extra,”

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I do enjoy trying new foods," Belle said cheerfully. "I'd love some if you're sharing."

[canlendanear]

“Of course, it’s not a problem,” Alara took out the batch she made earlier and she put some in a bowl to give to Belle, “it’s often compared to ice cream but I think it’s just because it’s our version of comfort food and canon hasn’t specified exactly what it is or tastes like“

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I like ice cream," Belle said, reaching for the bowl. "Most foods, really. Trying new ones is always a bit exciting. Thank you."

[canlendanear]

“You’re welcome,” Alara smiled as she got her own bowl, “it’s not the exact same if it was on Xelaya but hopefully it’s still okay, I haven’t made anything from home since I got here,”

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I'll never know the difference," Belle pointed out with a smile. "You could tell me it's the best possible version of the dish and I would have no way to know otherwise!"

[canlendanear]

“That’s true,” Alara grinned, “if you were comparing mine to my sister’s you’d know the difference…” because of course Solana was also good at cooking as well, “but cooking’s one of the few things I seem to manage okay with, I should try it more often,”

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I haven't learned much beyond how to make tea," Belle confessed. "Perhaps a cooking class next term might be useful. We'll have to see what's offered. Does your sister cook often?"

[canlendanear]

“A cooking class would be interesting, the adult one in town sounds like fun,” Alara considered, there was a pause, “she doesn’t cook as often as she used to, she’s pretty busy these days with her PHD,” she tried to keep it casual but the slightest hint of jealousy crept into her voice.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I know there were others this summer," Belle said. "It seems likely there will be more. It would be a good skill to acquire. A PHD is more advanced schooling?"

Belle read a lot. She'd certainly come across the acronym before she just wasn't entirely sure she remembered what it was.

[canlendanear]

Alara nodded, “it’s similar to Earth’s education system in that aspect,” she explained, “Xelaya prides itself on the academics and academic achievement, my father teaches at one of the universities,” and who wasn’t going to be thrilled when he learnt that Alara was not going to be applying to the university when she graduated.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"My mother always encouraged my education," Belle said. "So does Papa. Though it wasn't formalized until I was here. Continuing as long as possible sounds wonderful. What does your father teach?"

[canlendanear]

“I must admit I’m not as good at my education as my parents would like me to be,” Alara admitted, “my father teaches medical science, he’s rather renowned in academic circles back home,”

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I think," Belle admitted, "that sometimes my Papa would rather I spent a bit more time on things other than books. Perhaps all of our parents would rather we weren't quite ourselves all the time. Are you interested in medicine, then?"

[canlendanear]

“Not really no,” she admitted, “I think I don’t want to pursue further study when I graduate …I’m considering joining the Planetary Union military and …they’re not going to approve of that,”

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Our soldiers are all men," Belle said, making a bit of a face at that statement. "There are so many more opportunities for women other places than home!"

[canlendanear]

"It tends to be that way a bit on Xelaya," Alara told her, "most of the cooking and cleaning gets left for the women to do ... it's not so much being a woman in the military that my parents won't like," she said, "it's ... kind of controversial at home, because of our gravity we have elevated strength in normal gravity like on Earth but most Xelayans generally prefer to study and embrace the arts and they tend to look down on those who do join the military because they see it as a physical job and a less noble pursuit,"

[white_oleander]

Sketchbook, unsurprisingly, tucked under her arm, Astrid was on her way downstairs when she passed by the common room, noticed some life inside, and decided to detour for a little bit, if anything to maybe make some coffee or tea before heading out.

"Morning, everyone," she greeted, then noticed that there was some familiar activity going on and tilted his head. "Is someone making breakfast?"

[canlendanear]

“Morning,” Alara said with a smile and a wave, “it’s not traditionally a breakfast food but I’m making a dish from my world called sweetened Gupsela,” she explained, “or close to it, I had to substitute some ingredients but it should still taste similar,” she said, “would you liked to try to some?”

[white_oleander]

"Well, that really depends," said Astrid, her grin a little wry because she wasn't generally averse to trying new things, and she liked Alara, even if they didn't know each other well beyond their several shared classes. "What is it?"

[canlendanear]

“It’s often compared to ice cream but I think it’s more of a yogurt type food, I guess it would be our equivalent of comfort food since canon hasn’t specified what it’s like yet,” Alara explained, “ its got a lot of fruit in it, I did have to substitute some since you can only find some of the food on Xelaya but it should hopefully still taste good,”

[white_oleander]

"Sure, I'll try some," said Astrid, who already knew she would, moving to the table and setting down her sketchbook and taking a seat. "Who doesn't love a little space-equivelant of ice cream for breakfast?"

Well, she could think of at least one person who would strongly disagree with that statement, but, well, too bad for him.

[canlendanear]

“Cooking is one of the few things I can actually do,” she said with a grin as she got out the batch she’d made earlier and put some in a bowl and handed it to her, “and it’s been a while since I have so I thought why not try something different and see if I can make it work here?”

[white_oleander]

"See," said Astrid, taking the bowl with a nod of thanks and a curious glance at it, "I didn't even know you cooked at all. Is the food here pretty different from what you're used to, though?"

[canlendanear]

"I'm not good at many things but cooking I do like even if I don't get to do too often," Alara said with a smile, "it was the one of the few things that my parents tried to teach me that actually stuck ... I'm still nowhere near as good as my sister though," she paused as she considered the question, "Most of it's different but there are some similarities," Alara said with a nod, "we're part of the Planetary Union so we do trade with Earth, even though humans can only visit Xelaya if they wear a special suit because of the gravity," she explained, "so we don't get a lot of trade delegations from Earth,"